Amy Mae Smith’s ingenious lighting design uses a mixture of candlelight and suggestive colours and it transforms the small space from shop to dark London street to the murder-central barbers.
Amy Mae’s lighting design fuels the atmosphere and focuses our attention on the rapidly shifting drama
The design of this play is also integral to its success in pulling off the potentially confusing swapping of characters, times and locations, but it is done due justice by Amy Mae (lighting), Elena Peña (sound) and Ruth Chan (composer), each component working to support the cast.
Amy Mae’s lighting design fuels the atmosphere and focuses our attention on the rapidly shifting drama
This is possibly the best use of lighting I’ve seen in a play for a long time.
Elena Peña and Amy Mae also deserve much praise for their excellent sound-scaping and light design respectively.
The production also makes great use of the Pond restaurant space, utilising the architecture of the restaurant to create some unexpectedly visually engrossing scenes: particular how they use the three arches between the restaurant’s two main areas. Helping this is Amy Mae’s inventive lighting design, with lovely little gems like lighting up palletes of bottled water, that lift the visual energy of the production.
Sweeney Todds lighting gets top marks for intimacy and atmosphere. Early sections are lit by candlelight and lanterns….
Full credit also to Amy Mae Smith’s lighting and Joshua Richardson’s sound design, which also manipulate the snug surroundings to great effect….
‘From the moment Sweeney appeared on the stairs, lit so beautifully by Amy Mae Smith, I knew we were in for a treat.’
‘this fleet-footed, stylishly lit affair delivers the essentials’
As the stage is suffused in the red lighting of Amy Mae, no-one is calling for second pies
I could write for several paragraphs more about the dexterity of the troupe of climbing, singing, character-swapping actors, or the tirelessness of the pianist and the accompanying violin and clarinet, or the clever use of space, and the perfectly-handled light.
Amy Mae’s lighting allows the shifts from kitchen to moonlit cotton field to dystopian video-game wasteland appear seamless
‘Amy Mae’s lighting is exceptional and complements the claustrophobic design from Simon Kenny. Todd’s sudden first entry, descending stairs, shrouded in darkness but with strong light tantalisingly close, is powerful and alarming, clearly establishing both Todd’s status as Revenger and the upstairs place from whence he came as ‘the bad place’. Red light is used judiciously to create a sense of sudden, sharp, bloody murder or the rapacious hunger of flames. Candlelight evokes romance and fear in equal measure.’