Sweeney Todd: Private Ritual

Compulsion, repetition, and ceremony in Sweeney Todd

A few months ago, I argued for the inclusion of Judge Turpin’s “Johanna” in productions of Sweeney Todd. Cut the Judge’s “Johanna” and Turpin remains legible as villain, as predator, as wielder of public authority, but something in the quality of his corruption becomes harder to hear. His “Johanna” reveals compulsion. It reveals repetition. It reveals a…