Written By David Gomez
Have you ever wondered what some of the dishes we buy in stores or restaurants are really made of? What do we actually know about the ingredients they contain? Are the vegetables fresh? Has the fruit been washed properly? Is the meat really animal meat? And if it is, what animal are we talking about?
I know I may be exaggerating with these questions, but you, the person reading these lines, have you never thought about it? Imagine that the meat in the lasagna you are eating right now, sitting in your favourite restaurant, is not beef. And perhaps not even animal at all. The thought alone makes my stomach twist. I hope it does the same to you. Strange as it may sound, these unsettling questions turned out to be a fitting introduction to the story told on stage last week.
These thoughts crossed my mind as I attended Opera at Western’s latest production on Friday, March 7, when the stage of the Paul Davenport Theatre hosted Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. For those unfamiliar with the famous musical thriller by composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, the story follows Benjamin Barker, a barber who returns to London (UK) under the name Sweeney Todd after being unjustly imprisoned for many years. Consumed by revenge, he resumes his trade in a small Fleet Street shop, where his razor becomes an instrument of vengeance. With the help of Mrs. Lovett, who runs a struggling pie shop downstairs, the story gradually takes a darker turn: the unfortunate victims of Todd’s barber chair begin to provide the mysterious filling for Mrs. Lovett’s increasingly popular meat pies. What begins as a revenge story slowly unfolds into a disturbing tale of justice, obsession, and the unsettling lengths people may go to when evil takes hold.
It was a pleasure to witness the work of many talented students and seasoned music professionals bringing such a complex and layered production to life. Chad Louwerse, who portrayed Sweeney Todd in all four performances, delivered a compelling and carefully crafted interpretation. His deep voice and commanding stage presence created a quiet but persistent sense of unease. More than once I instinctively touched my own throat as I watched him shave his “customers.”
Anjelique Croteau as Mrs. Lovett, Ignacio Reyes as Tobias, Leo Sigut as Beadle Bamford, and Hunter Stull as the Beggar Woman (Lucy) carried significant emotional weight throughout the performance. Their strong and expressive voices helped reveal the depth and complexity of their characters. The rest of the cast, along with the choir, also played an essential role in creating the atmosphere that kept the audience engaged from beginning to end.
The musicians deserve equal recognition. Each member of the orchestra contributed to a performance that did more than accompany the singers; it created the world of the story itself. The audience felt like we were part of the dark context of that 19th-century London.
In musical theatre and opera, the orchestra has the unique ability to transport the audience through sound alone, shaping emotions and atmosphere. Under the direction of Simone Luti, the musical direction was steady, precise, and consistently engaging.
As the audience rose for the final applause and the cast took their well-deserved bows, it was hard not to think again about those unsettling questions that opened the evening in my mind. Good theatre has a way of doing that—of planting a small, curious thought that stays with us long after the lights come up. Sweeney Todd may tell a dark and unsettling story, but productions like this remind us why live performance remains so powerful: for a few hours, a stage in London (ON) can transport us to another time, another place, and leave us looking at the ordinary world—even something as simple as a meat pie—with slightly different eyes.
