| I enjoyed the Sweeney choreography, after hearing disgruntled reports in previews that it distracted. Responses are entirely subjective of course, but I didn't find the hand movements designed solely to literalize the score's staccato rhythm or punctuate the brevity of lines in the text. The ballad is one place where the characters fold into a unified storytelling ensemble beyond participating citizens; and even on his entrance Sweeney himself break the fourth wall, in the first lines sung, Sweeney refers to himself in the third person, which renders him a player (too), a distanced role he won't return to until the finale. Here, hand gestures suggested the need to set forth horrific tale with utter precision, with an assignment: to render moral clarity. The words sung are a brutal appraisal of a story with little light seeping through its cracks. The ensemble's wild-eyed demeanor -- Tobias sneakily turning downstage to uncover his face then cover it again -- suggested the horror in a dark parable they're committed to present. It's mysterious and stylized, but off-putting in a good sense: the world being built will be narrated by people aware of its ugliness and sharp edges. Those edges are what I remember in the arms and hands sorting out the facts. |
