AUDITIONS in summer followed by 14 intense weeks of rehearsals have culminated this week with the staging of Stephen Sondheim's musical adaptation of Sweeney Todd.

A strong cast of talented drama students at Chipping Campden School brings the dark and gloomy streets of 19th century London to the Cotswolds led by 18-year-old James Bartoli-Edwards as Todd and 16-year-old Libby Akerman as Mrs Lovett.

The dark story behind the barber of Fleet Street first aired in The People’s Periodical and Family Library, published by Edward Lloyd, as The String Of Pearls: A Romance in November 1846. It depicted Todd as an evil and murderous demonic barber whose victims of his barber's chair became the meaty filings for pies cooked by neighbour, Mrs Lovett.

Despite various versions of the original theme being penned since its first airing, the depiction of the story most widely known today comes from Christopher G Bond’s play “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” published in 1973. Bond's Sweeney Todd, previously always seen as an embodiment of melodramatic evil, is presented as a victim of circumstances and, therefore, makes the audience question whether he is a true villain or a victim of circumstance. Sondheim's version is based on Bond's play.

Chipping Campden School's Sweeney Todd has been directed by drama teacher Jon Beynon and is set in the same shadowy, smog-ridden London streets which we associate with Jack the Ripper and is being staged nightly at 7.30pm from Wednesday January 14 until Saturday, January 17 in the main hall.