Manchester’s Royal Exchange will join forces with West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds to present a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical theatre classic Sweeney Todd—The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street as part of its 2013 Autumn Winter Season in a project that marks the beginning of a creative partnership between the two organisations.
The show will open in Leeds from September 26 to October 26 before being re-worked for the Exchange from November 1 to 30.
It will be directed by the WYP’s newly-appointed artistic director James Brining and marks his first production since joining the theatre last September. Originally staged in Dundee in 2010, Brining will revisit his TMA-winning production for two very different and iconic theatre stages.
Packed with Sondheim’s characteristic wit and dark humour, Sweeney Todd is a musical thriller about a man driven mad by injustice. Widely acknowledged as the composer’s musical masterpiece, it remains a razor sharp tale of vengeance and true love.
Exchange artistic director Sarah Frankcom says this is the start of a collaborative relationship “that will bring fantastic work to our space for our audiences to experience. The partnership will also allow our work to cross the Pennines and reach new audiences in 2014.”