Things could be getting rather gory at the ADC Theatre next month when Sweeney Todd takes to the stage.

Stephen Sondheim’s Tony award-winning musical, which was last year turned into a Hollywood film starring Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter, is something of a macabre masterpiece.

The dark, yet humorous story of the murderous Victorian barber and his pie-making accomplice Mrs Lovett is a musical treat, with Sondheim’s score showing real complexity and beauty.

Running at the ADC from June 2-6, guest director James Dowson is looking forward to the show.

He said: “The story is really about obsession. We sympathise with Todd’s suffering but are appalled by his revenge. At the same time we cannot help laughing at Mrs Lovett’s outrageous attitude and the dark irony that emerges. These different emotions are perfectly represented in Sondheim’s spectacular music – that’s what makes this piece so engaging and special.”

Meanwhile, the ADC’s summer season continues apace with Homer’s The Odyssey adapted by international playwright Hattie Naylor. The Odyssey, the world’s oldest action adventure, is packed with monsters, gods, love and deceit – the perfect ingredients for a night at the theatre.
The play runs from today (May 20) until Saturday.

Next week, the ADC’s focus will switch to dance with Images of Dance, a semi-professional tour featuring 17 talented young dancers. A banquet of ballet is promised with Swan Lake sitting alongside Mad About the Boy – using hits from the 1950s and ‘60s in a cheeky take on fairytale Twelve Dancing Princesses.

The ADC’s Stuart Cuthbertson said: “Our current summer programme is one of the most diverse to date. Whilst our regular student companies are focussing on exams, we’re welcoming a wide range of community and touring groups to ensure our season remains as jam-packed as ever. We’re also looking forward to the return of the Cambridge Footlights in June with previews of their 2009 Edinburgh Fringe show, which will go on to tour the UK in September.”

At the end of June, Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus, the Yorkshireman’s 1973 classic, is staged from June 30 to July 4, while Re:Design, the dramatisation of Charles Darwin’s letters to and from Asa Gray in Boston, USA, will help mark the University’s Darwin Festival, which runs from July 5-10.

For full details of the ADC’s summer season, which runs until July 26, visit www.adctheatre.com
 

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