Drama classes to see Mountain View production of ‘Sweeney Todd’

Students from the three drama classes are going to Mountain View to see a professional production of the musical “Sweeney Todd” on Oct. 23. The production will be performed by Theatreworks, a reputable regional company that puts on productions of many shows, including “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “The Lake Effect.”

“Sweeney Todd” is a dark musical that follows barber Benjamin Barker as he seeks revenge on Judge Turpin for wrongfully imprisoning him and taking Barker’s wife and daughter. After 10 years in prison, Barker returns to London to find his wife gone and his daughter adopted by Judge Turpin. Barker adopts the alias Sweeney Todd and seeks revenge on the Judge and everyone who helped contribute to the injustice against his family.

The field trip is during school hours, and about half of each of the three drama classes are attending.

“I feel very strongly that students learn about theater not just by getting up and performing, but by watching complete shows and analyzing what they found effective or ineffective about performances and design elements,” drama teacher Sarah Thermond said. “Last year, we were unable to do this and students missed out on a great opportunity. I’m really happy to add it back into our class curriculum this year.”

Freshman Zona Liao is excited to watch the production.

“I’ve seen some professional productions before, but I’m really looking forward to seeing ‘Sweeney Todd’ because I think it will be interesting to see how the characters interact on stage,” Liao said.

Senior Andrew York, who has been on multiple field trips to see productions with the drama department, believes that seeing professional shows with classmates is a great learning experience.

“I saw ‘Comedy of Errors’ by William Shakespeare at Montalvo my freshman year, and we were able to see a cast of six actors play 14 different parts and leap across a two story set,” York said. “It was an experience that most of us wouldn’t have been able to see without the field trip.”

On top of that, York said it is helpful to see shows with classmates because of the common experience from which students can draw parallels.

Senior Jack McCarthy enjoys seeing how the actors and actresses use songs to enhance dramatic moments within their performance. On top of that, he is excited to see how they do some of the more violent scenes and make them work safely while still getting the message across.

McCarthy said the value in watching live shows is that “students can watch to see what [acting] choices are effective, and what elicits an emotional response, while seeing what a good show should look like.”