A refresher to the outrageous musical phenomenon that is Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a deliciously macabre tale of murder, vengeance, cannibalism, and entrepreneurial spirit that has gained cult status among thriller-loving fans. From 14 to 21 September, the Arts Centre, Playhouse will transform into Fleet Street to bring you this dark tale of pies and vengeance.

If you need a refresher, here’s how the story goes: Benjamin Barker has been framed and is exiled to a penal colony for 15 years by the malicious Judge Turpin, who abused his wife and stole his daughter, keeping her as his ward hidden from the world outside. Benjamin Barker returns to London as our brooding anti-hero Sweeney Todd, and opens a barbershop above Mrs Lovett’s Pie Shop.

Mad with a lust for revenge, he declares vengeance on humanity and slices the vulnerable throats of customers with his straight razor. Downstairs, Mrs Lovett gets suspicious of her lodger. But when she finds a corpse, she feels inspired. Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd strike up a mutually beneficial relationship as butcher and baker: he’ll source the meat, she’ll grind it into her pies. Both are satisfied, the pies are popular, what could possibly go wrong?

If you’re not familiar with the stage production by Stephen Sondheim, you might remember the story thanks to Tim Burton’s 2007 film. What you might not know is that the story actually stretches back to the mid-1800s, when the name Sweeney Todd struck terror into the hearts of Victorian children throughout London.

Sweeney Todd was concocted in 1846 in a penny dreadful – cheap, pulpy, illustrated pamphlets with stories of criminals, detectives and the supernatural. The story was instantly popular and, by 1870, Sweeney Todd became a familiar, household name. Nearly a century later, Christopher Bond turned the story into a hit play. A few years later, Stephen Sondheim decides the play could use some songs.

Sondheim’s 1979 musical production has made Sweeney Todd an enduring success, with numerous Tony and Olivier Awards to its name. Tim Burton’s film adaptation brought the story to a whole new generation. Now, Victorian Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd, directed by Stuart Maunder, breathes fresh life into this compelling masterpiece, transforming it into an immersive theatrical experience at the Arts Centre in Melbourne.

It is terrifying, grisly, melancholic, yet wildly watchable, occasionally hilarious and will have you singing to yourself long after the curtains have fallen. Find out more about how you can indulge in the horror and the music of Sweeney Todd.