Lovett | Bridewell Theatre

Mrs Lovett is a name known to all musical theatre fans, originally created in 1846 penny dreadful series The String of Pearls, but immortalised by Stephen Sondheim in his musical Sweeney Todd. Now, Boondog Theatre, director Jamie Firth, and writer Lucy Roslyn delve into the story of the woman behind the character we all know, or think we know. 

In Lovett, writer Lucy Roslyn plays Eleanor (or Nellie, though she won’t thank you for the nickname), a butcher’s widow with a reverence for the craft which he has left to her. 

“You are undoing God’s work, and that takes craft,” she tells the audience, as she describes the process of butchering an animal, of the various steps by which it turns from a living thing into meat.  

The amount of research which went into this piece is clear, not only because of the detailed media pack provided. It shines through in Eleanor’s descriptions of Victorian London, of the butchery process, of whaling, bringing the setting and the characters to life. 

The show quickly moves from the specifics of butchery into the story of Eleanor’s life. The daughter of a whaler drowned at sea and a needlewoman forced to become a ‘Winchester Goose’ (“that’s a prostitute”, she whispers conspiratorially) after her husband’s death, her life has been defined by the church sermons of her childhood, the actions of a priest in that church, and the things that she needs to do to get by. Through the hour-long piece, we see her change from an innocent child into the woman she is today, in a story which is sometimes gruesome but never over the top.

Roslyn gives Eleanor emotional resonance, and also draws the audience in. There is no fourth wall here, it is clear that she knows she is performing for a crowd, and eager for them to learn her story. 

Currently touring the country, Lovett fits particularly well at the Bridewell Theatre, as the map that Eleanor sketches of her life “north of the river” surrounding the theatre, all of the locations referenced within walking distance of where the audience sits. 

The setting inside the theatre is also atmospheric. A dark stage, lit by flickering candles, creates Eleanor’s “church”, while she works at and around a large butcher’s block. The story requires the bare minimum of props, nor does it require any other actors, as Roslyn brings them into the room with us, with her mother Helene and bolshy prostitute Irene featuring heavily through the piece. 

Annie May Fletcher’s soundscape is also integral to the piece, at times bringing in the sounds of London, dogs barking and street chatter, at others undercutting the tension with eerie music or the sound of a heartbeat. It is beautifully designed and perfectly accompanies the action on stage. 

Early in the play, Eleanor asks the audience to remember her name. Both that, and this piece of theatre, will be difficult to forget. 

Lovett runs at the Bridewell Theatre until 26 September, before continuing to tour the UK. For more information and tickets, follow the link here.

★★★★★ (5*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Andrew Perry and Clive Boursnell