Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Is Mrs. Lovett Todd’s sidekick or his antagonist? Discuss her function in the narrative in the context of her power dynamics with Todd. How do her actions hinder him from progressing in his journey? Could you justify her actions in the context of personal healing?

Horror is underrepresented in the musical genre. How might the musical or lyrical aspects of this play enhance its horror/thriller elements? Do you find the narrative scarier because of how it presents its abject themes? Does it deepen your sense of what horror can do as a genre?

Discuss the function of the company vis-à-vis the traditional chorus that appear in classical Greek tragedies. How does the presence of the company drive thematic resonance between Sweeney Todd and the works of authors like Aeschylus or Sophocles?

 Wheeler and Sondheim leaned into Christopher Bond’s reinterpretation of the Sweeney Todd character, giving him human motivations and complex character dimensions. Trace this authorial intention in more recent works of film and television. Where does the impulse to humanize or deepen the motivations of villain-coded characters come from?

Compare and contrast the characters of Anthony and Tobias. How does their experience of youth shape their views of the world? Do either of them have the potential to turn into a character like Todd?

Comment on the play’s use of humor. How does humor function within the context of a horror/thriller narrative? Does it undermine the play’s overall mood, or does it underscore it in complex ways?

Discuss the use of disguises as a recurring motif within the play. Why do characters change their names and appearances? What are the underlying motives that prevent them from revealing the truth about who they are? What does this suggest about the necessity of deception in a world like the one portrayed in the musical?

Comment on the play’s position on naivety and cynicism through characters like Johanna and Lucy. Is the play necessarily urging viewers to take a cynical worldview toward life? What counterpoints does the play offer to this worldview?