Murder on stage is the first and most theatrical moment known to the theater. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, takes this effect to a whole other level. Sweeney Todd is a dark opera that follows the demise of a man through his struggle for revenge, and his quest to reunite with his family. This thesis will cover, from start to finish, the entire scenic design process of Temple University's 2010 production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. / Theater

Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 award-winning musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was produced during a time of great political and economic uncertainty in New York City. Although not overtly political, the themes of urban crisis and class inequality that birthed the original legend of Sweeney Todd in Industrial Revolution London continued to play a large role within the modern musical, reflecting leftist political concerns at large. The main political argument within the work is the critique of class hierarchies created by capitalism and how the upper classes abuse the lower classes, ie. how Judge Turpin uses his power to abuse Sweeney Todd and the grave consequences of such actions. Less obvious, however, are the importance of gender hierarchy and the objectification of women within this anti-capitalist critique. This paper focuses on the character of Johanna and the three songs sung about her by the three main male leads. These songs provide a case study of how gendered objectification and commodification play a significant role in the overall Marxist critique intrinsic to the musical and the Sweeney Todd legend overall. The work’s rootedness in the anti-capitalist critique of the New Left in the 1970s and the concurrent rise of Marxist and socialist feminism provide clues to understanding the context and meaning behind the violent treatment of women within the musical as an extension of the anti-capitalist critique that is fundamental to the work. / text

William Walker's expedition should be a fertile source of examples of such incipient dependency. This is because that expedition was grounded in the political desires of Manifest Destiny and the pragmatic economics of a cross-isthmus connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during the crucial years just before the U.S. Civil war. Walker's actions caused a war in Central America, brought the United States and England to the brink of war, effected a significant economic relationship, and influenced diplomatic relations between Nicaragua and the U.S. for years afterward. Because of these various actions and reactions, this episode in inter-American relations provides instances of many of the basic elements of the putative dependency relationships alluded to above. There were governments seeking economic advantage, businessmen seeking profitable investments, trade treaties negotiated, and military force used. It was a brief and intense period when economic interests were ultimately controlled by policy decisions.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank Tracz / This document is based on the preparation, rehearsal, and performance of selected pieces for the Graduate Conducting recital of Joshua D. Hankey. The pieces examined in the theoretical and historical analysis for this report are Ancient Voices by Michael Sweeney, The Headless Horseman by Timothy Broege and Cut to the Chase by Todd Stalter. This document also contains rehearsal plans and procedures for the preparation of the literature. The recital was performed on May 9, 2013 in the Santa Fe Trail Middle School Gymnasium on the campus of Santa Fe Trail Middle School, and was performed by the members of the Santa Fe Trail Middle School 7th grade Intermediate Band, and the Santa Fe Trail Middle School Concert Band.

This thesis is a personal journey. My work on VCU’s production of SWEENEY TODD began in the Spring of 2012 when I came on board the production as dramaturg. Part of what is contained within is both an explanation of my dramaturgical research method as well as samples of the research I have compiled. However, my role was drastically changed in the Fall of 2012 when I was cast as the primary antagonist in the production. The thesis chronicles the rehearsal process as my role as dramaturg increasingly gave way to my role as actor. It attempts to answer the question, “Is it possible to be both dramaturg and actor on a single production?” Finally, the thesis is a reflection of the overall process of working on a challenging theatrical production in an academic setting.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-303). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-303). Also available on the Internet.

In the spring of 2023, Kungliga Operan in Stockholm, Sweden premiered their production of Stephen Sondheim's famous musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This study aims to analyze this production in regards to Mattias Fhyr's definition of the Gothic. It analyzes what gothic signs and themes are recognizable in the Kungliga Operan production of the musical and how they manifest on stage. The study applies the qualitative method of performance analysis, which uses a combination of semiotics and hermeneutics to analyze live performances. Semiotics is also used as the theoretical foundation of this essay. Fhyr's definition specifies that a gothic text depicts subjective worlds, that lack higher order and is characterized by an atmosphere of decay, destruction, and irresolvability, and that it contains labyrinthine qualities. Earlier research also shows that the Gothic can be found in almost all media, including theater. This study illustrates how this performance of Sweeney Todd contains and expresses the above mentioned themes. It also discusses the gothic genre's relationship with opera and comedy and how they are relevant in the performance. It explores the characters monstrous depictions, and examines different familial relations and themes in the musical, characteristic of the gothic genre. The study concludes that the Gothic can be found in the musical's set design and fictional locations, in the mood and atmosphere mostly created by the score, in the characters and their actions, as well as in the story itself.

Thesis advisor: Joseph Nugent / In this paper, I unite scholarly understanding of T. S. Eliot’s recurring character, Sweeney. I present the origin of Sweeney through Eliot’s knowledge of classical and Irish myth as well as his contemporary views surrounding Ireland, Catholicism, Africa, and Afro-modernism. In discussing dramatic Sweeney, I incorporate an understanding of Eliot’s contemporary works on Senecan tragedy to unravel the fragmented nature of “Sweeney Agonistes.” I conclude my first chapter by discussing Sweeney’s “death” by analyzing Eliot’s recent conversion to Anglicanism and emerging views of poetic metaphysics. My second chapter unveils the ghost of Sweeney in Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral” through the metaphor of stencil art, discussing “Sweeney Agonistes” as an outline. Further, I find Sweeney’s ghost in the work of Samuel Beckett’s "Waiting For Godot" through analysis of themes drawn from an article by Rick De Villier, as well as new studies on technique and characters. I conclude with my explanation of Sweeney as a “new” Senecan Tragic Hero based on the terminology of semper idem - always the same. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: Departmental Honors.

This thesis examines Seamus Heaney’s approach to translation with specific reference to Sweeney Astray, The Cure at Troy, and Beowulf. An assessment of Heaney’s translations, and the ways in which they relate to his poetry, is essential to an understanding of his work as a poet. This thesis demonstrates the centrality of translation to Heaney’s oeuvre as an effective means to comment on his Northern Irish socio-political context without producing political propaganda. Translation is a valuable means for Heaney to elucidate his contemporary experience by considering it in terms of the recorded past captured within his chosen translations. Instead of comparing the three translations with their original texts, this thesis concentrates on Heaney’s translations as a continuation of his own creative work and as catalysts for further poetry. The translations are explored in chronological order to allow a sense of Heaney’s development as a translator and his efforts to remain critically attuned to the Northern Irish political situation. The first chapter examines Heaney’s translation of the Gaelic poem Buile Suibhne, which is published as Sweeney Astray. In this first major act of translation Heaney recognises the political role that translation is able to play. He draws attention to the protagonist’s sense of cultural ease in both Britain and Ireland, which he argues is exemplary for the people of Ulster and renders the narrative particularly accessible to a Northern Irish readership due to his anglicisation of the text, which is intended as a reminder to both Catholics and Protestants of their shared identity as Irishmen. The second chapter focuses on Heaney’s translation of Sophocles’ Philoctetes, entitled The Cure at Troy. Heaney’s translation contextualises the Ancient Greek concern for personal integrity in the face of political necessity, a situation relevant to his own complex relationship with Northern Irish politics. His alterations to the text accentuate the positive aspects of the play, suggesting the very real possibility of social change within the seemingly constant violence of Northern Ireland. The third chapter explores Heaney’s engagement with the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, as a means of coming to terms with the complex history of Irish colonisation through language. This chapter assesses Heaney’s incorporation of Irish dialectal words into his translation, which lend the poem political weight, and yet prove to be contextually appropriate, rendering Heaney’s Beowulf a masterpiece of readability and subtle political commentary.