A Synopsis of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Beware — spoilers ahead!
The story opens in a madhouse in Victorian London. There, crazed inmate Tobias Ragg relates the tale of Sweeney Todd, “the demon barber of Fleet Street”:
Todd and Anthony Hope, a young sailor, disembark at the London docks, happy to be back in their bustling hometown. Though much older, Todd is grateful to Anthony for rescuing him at sea after his escape from prison. Immediately Todd heads for Fleet Street and visits with Mrs. Lovett, the owner of a failing pie shop. Mrs. Lovett, who admits to selling the “worst pies in London,” recognizes Todd as Benjamin Barker, the barber-surgeon who used to live upstairs from her shop with his beautiful wife Lucy and infant daughter Johanna. Fifteen years before, we learn, Todd was arrested falsely and shipped to a penal colony by the lecherous Judge Turpin, who desired Lucy and wanted Todd out of the way. Mrs. Lovett tells Todd that after he was sent off, Turpin raped Lucy when she refused his advances. In shame, Lucy swallowed poison, and Johanna became Turpin’s ward.
Upon hearing his family’s fate, Todd fills with rage and vows revenge against Turpin and his police accomplice, Beadle Bamford. With the razors that Mrs. Lovett, who has long loved Todd, kept during his absence, Todd opens a barbershop above Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop, hoping to attract Turpin and Bamford to his business. His plans go quickly awry when a rival barber named Pirelli figures out Todd’s true identity and tries to blackmail him. Todd kills Pirelli with his razors, and Mrs. Lovett suggests they dispose of his body by grinding it up and baking it into her pies.
After Mrs. Lovett’s “corpse” pies become the culinary rage of Fleet Street, Todd starts killing his customers to keep up with the demand. Anthony, meanwhile, has met and fallen in love with the teenaged Johanna, who is guarded carefully by Turpin. Johanna agrees to elope with Anthony, but the judge, who plans to marry Johanna himself, sends her to an insane asylum to keep the young couple apart. Todd then conspires with Anthony to free Johanna and use her to lure Turpin to his barbershop. Matters come to a head when Tobias, Pirelli’s young assistant who now works for Mrs. Lovett, becomes suspicious and complaints about bad odors spewing from the building bring Bamford to Todd’s door.
Also complicating affairs is a strange but familiar Beggar Woman who has been lurking around Todd. While Mrs. Lovett maneuvers to keep her criminal ways a secret, Todd races to unite Anthony with Johanna and exact his revenge on the judge.
More about Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Reviews of Sweeney Todd (2024)
"It is no exaggeration to say that from the ensemble to the demon barber himself, every single actor in this production is a master of their craft." - PDX Parent
Stephen Sondheim
Sondheim is considered one of the most important American composers — contributing to the sound and story of the American musical theatre. Read a brief biography and chronology of this celebrated, award-winning artist.
A Timeline of Sweeney Todd
From penny dreadful to Johnny Depp; a timeline of Sweeney Todd in popular culture.
An Interview with Sweeney Todd Director Chip Miller
PCS Literary Manager Kamilah Bush talked to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street director Chip Miller about their deep connection to Sondheim and why "rage in the world" makes the show so relevant today.
Sweeney Todd Reading List
Calling all readers! Multnomah County Library put together a reading list inspired by our production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
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