Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre “Maria Callas”

Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a striking musical thriller laced with black comedy, set in Victorian London. The musical was staged in Greece for the first time under the musical direction and stage direction of Giorgos Petrou: the production, which premiered at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in 2017 to rave reviews, now comes to the Olympia Theatre, this time with the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Municipality of Athens.

Benjamin Barker, a peaceful family man, is sent to prison in Australia for standing up to Judge Turpin’s immoral designs on his wife. The seed of revenge takes root in his heart: sixteen years after his conviction he returns to London as the demon barber Sweeney Todd and, with his razor, quenches his thirst for vengeance, aided by the equally cunning Mrs Lovett.

The urban legend of Sweeney Todd travels from 19th-century London to early-1970s America, and from the Broadway stage and Sondheim’s musical (1979) to Tim Burton’s film adaptation.