"Sweeney Todd" by Gatepost Theatre Company.

May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton.

Sweeney Todd, real name Benjamin Barker, uses his new alias to resume work in his barber shop above Mrs. Lovett’s struggling pie shop after being wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment by the corrupt Judge Turpin. After swearing vengeance against the Judge that tore his family apart, Todd and Lovett plot a unique plan that helps them both and leads them down a dangerous, thrilling path with deadly consequences.

I never tire of watching this musical, partly due to the wonderful Sondheim soundtrack, and partly because the productions have always been excellent. No difference here in my attendance of the tale of Sweeney Todd!

That said, this was a production like I've never seen before for so many reasons. Even before you enter the auditorium you get a sense of unease with the masked greeters at the door. They then proceeded to sit on the stage and stare at the audience, making sure that you also felt uncomfortable in your seat.

As you can tell, from the start, this production is like no other you've seen of "Sweeney Todd". It's very stylised with a contemporary feel, sound and look.

Christopher Collington plays Todd, as well as directing the show.. He was menacing and his underlying anger didn't take long to surface. His scenes with Mrs Lovett ranged from the serious to the comic, often the comedy would be as subtle as a sidewards glance in her direction; the dramatic involving a great deal of trust from Lottie at the hands of Sweeney, especially near the end of Act Two! Anyone having seen Chris on stage before will know anyway that he has a big old voice with plenty of control, and with Sondheim's songs, the actor shone.

Mrs Lovett is played by Lottie Lodge. I've already mentioned the trust value that Lottie had within her role as the pie maker extrodanaire, but this role is bigger than some people may give credit for. From her first scene to her last, there's an amazing amount of lyrics and script to deliver, as well as that big and busy character. Lottie took all this in her stride and delivered the perfect Mrs Lovett in my eyes.

Kiah Smith plays Johanna, Sweeney Todd's daughter. Kiah has a gorgeous, operatic voice that could cut glass. There are several duets with Anthony, who is new in town and falls in love with her immediately, and these duets have been so meticulously practiced that just a second out would throw both off. Note and word perfect for both roles.

Anthony Hope is played by Jack Lawrence. The thing that you notice first off about Jack is that strong vocal style, simmering for the gentler numbers and when he sings "I feel you Johanna", you believe every word that he sings. I don't recall seeing Jack before, so maybe he's new, but he's a name I'd watch out for coming up through the ranks.

Judge Turpin is played by the very talented Simon Owen. Creating an image in stage is not as easy as some may think, but when Simon plays Joanna's ward, and his intentions become clear, you get an uneasy feeling in your stomach. He makes you feel disgust at the character. As I said, this is just an image portayed for the character because Simon, in real life is a lovely bloke. Extremely far removed from Turpin.

Luke Steven Grainger plays Beadle Bamford, Turpin's right hand man. Now, I've known Luke for many years and this is really his return to the stage after quite an absence, and what a way to return. I took great pleasure, when chatting to Luke afterwards, that I had forgotten just how good a voice he has; what I didn't add was he has great range as well. Banford is one of the slimiest roles in this musical, and that did come across, but what also came across was how unhinged Beadle is. He reminded me of Malcolm McDowell's role in "A Clockwork Orange". One minute mocking, the next laughing, then a sign of the evil within the character. Welcome back Luke - and I got his name right as well - a private chuckle. I think that his credit in the program was done to ensure that I got it right.

Harrison Ince plays Tobias Ragg, and again this is another young actor who really shone for me. Tobias is the young lad who works for Pirelli, who, after Pirelli "disappears", is informally adopted by Mrs Lovett to help with the pie making. Harrison showed that he has a strong and clear voice, especially in the duet "Not While I'm Around" with Mrs Lovett, especially as they had to perform this without the aid of amplification - more of that later. A really confident performer who wasn't phased by the tongue twisting "Pirelli's Magic Elixir" one bit.

Some of the comedy element in this show is provided by the "Italian" barber Pirelli, here played by Gary Heap - great accent by the way. Another role that is as double edged as the razor he uses to shave his customers with. I can't remember Gary turning in a bad performance, and he certainly was not going to start here as Pirelli.

Jude Cliffman plays the beggar woman. Crazy, frustrated - in every way possible - but yet another character that is so much more than her initial one dimension entrance. Jude gets to deliver some really comical lines as well.

The ensemble consist of Phil Deakin, Ben Gray, Ellie Banbury, Rachelle Bragg, Jordan Neary, Claire Rybicki, Max Wilde, Sarah Knight and Kirsty Vastenavondt. Mostly masked up to create that air of uneasiness, especially in Act two where these faceless creatures surround Todd in his barbershop.

The Musical Director role is also down to Christopher Collington (how many hats can one very talented man wear?).

There are some of my favourite musical theatre tunes in "Sweeney Todd". Sondheim's music is not an easy score to perform but this cast performed them as if they were reciting nursery rhymes. "Worst Pies In London", "Johanna", "The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd", "Pretty Women" - which is as hypnotic as looking into the eyes of a snake, "A Little Priest" - which must be one of the most cleverly crafted musical theatre songs ever, "By the Sea" and the beautiful "Not While I'm Around".

Directing this show, Chris has ramped it up and made the whole feel of the show even darker with several added extras which I'm not going to reveal. As I said earlier, I've seen this musical several times, but this has that extra uneasiness and darkness interwoven.

Lighting Design is by Stephen Greatorex. This really added to the dark overtones of the story with plenty of shadows. Lights of red to give a bloody feeling and dark colours to show the sinister aspects of the plot.

The set design by Mark Green is something like I've not seen for a production like this. It uses an extended stage with two cut outs in the stage floor - the reason for that became apparent quickly, but also looked as if the demons of Todd's doing were rising up form the Underworld in one section, especially with the backlighting. A modern design for the salon and a higher level for the party scene and Johanna and Anthony's scenes.

Sound operator is Pete Gough, and it's this area that made the sound guy the hero of the night. Throughout Act One it became apparent to me that something was slightly amiss. I'd heard these issues before elsewhere and put it down to a wiring problem with the portable mic packs that actors where. But the issues continues and into Act two everything came to a head when the time came for "Not While I'm Around". Lottie's mic pack just didn't want to work and then Harrison's, meaning that there was no amplification for either. The sound had gone completely.

Chris took to the stage to do the only thing he could do, as his role as Director and stopped the show, apologised, explained what was happening and there was a slight delay while things were sorted out. Chris is a naturally funny guy and his honesty and comic ability really endeared him to the practically full theatre.

There was one other moment which rivalled anything in "The Play That Goes Wrong" involving Bamford, who had to play the keyboard for part of the show. I did mention to Chris at the end that maybe they should keep the "what a lovely instrument" piece in the show, but he politely declined the suggestion.

I've always said that every night's performance is different to the one before; well that was so right on Wednesday night, but the honesty and respect for their audience won everyone over. Something that was out of their control was fixed within five minutes and as the old adage goes "The show must go on", and it did, receiving a standing ovation for, not only a superb new production, but for the way that this episode was handled calmly and professionally. And I expect Chris will have had a drink or ten to mark this occasion.

"Sweeney Todd" is at May Hall until Saturday 15 April, so don't be a pudding, buy a ticket and wrap your mince pies around this chilling and impeccably performed piece of musical theatre.