We had our LookIn on Tuesday the 22nd–that’s where the public is invited in to get a “look in” to our rehearsal process. The directors and designers discuss the play and they get to see a brief scene done in our rehearsal studio (complete with taped out floor plan!). We always have show-themed food (this time including a bleeding armadillo cake). It was a very fun night and everyone seemed to have a blast.

Tickets are selling like mad, so if you haven’t got yours yet get on the ball (or actually the phone). On opening night we’re down to single tickets and obstructed-view seats only. Once we’re open, I’ll be back to let you know how the performances are going!

Oh, and Martha Wilkinson is twittering in character as Truvy. Check it out here.

A little Sweeney blast

And now, we’re off to….

 Yup, Matt Chiorini is back in The Santaland Diaries. We’re actually into our 2nd of 4 weeks. It’s been very, very fun. We had a short rehearsal process because Matt and David Alford (the director this time and three years ago when they did it before) were back. I, however, wasn’t here when they did it, so I had to get caught up as we went. We also worked with a new lighting designer for the Rep, Barry Steele, who was quite wonderful and added some lovely touches to this irreverent Christmas tale. Audience and critical responses have been extremely positive. The base material from David Sadaris is so well-crafted and funny, and when you add Matt’s sharp, well-honed improvisations (read: screwing with) with the audience, it makes for a very fun night. After this run, we break for the holidays and then back with a modern masterpiece, Glengarry Glen Ross. Until then…

Next up is the Gone with the Wind behind-the-scenes fun of Moonlight and Magnolias. As a special tie in, Sweeney‘s own Mrs. Lovett, Martha Wilkinson, will be directing the madcapnessity! I’ll be back soon with another view of the fun!

For centuries, surgery was a craft rather than a profession, and it was often practiced by barbers. In addition to grooming services, barber-surgeons regularly performed bloodletting, dental extractions, minor surgeries, and sometimes even amputations.

The association between barbers and surgeons goes back to the early Middle Ages when surgery and medicine were practices carried out by the clergy. This changed in 1215, when a papal decree ruled that priests could no longer participate in any shedding of blood. Barbers, accustomed to using a razor, were presumed to be skillful in carrying out any treatment that involved cutting the skin, and so the practice moved to them.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Black Plague wiped out a vast number of university-trained physicians, and barbers became increasingly relied upon. “Flying barbers” traveled from town to town, setting up tents to offer their services. In 1540, Henry VIII united the Company of the Barbers and the Fellowship of Surgeons with a royal decree and created the unified trade guild, the Company of Barber-Surgeons. Barbers and surgeons remained joined for over 200 years.

The practice of surgery was still in its primitive stage, but discoveries were often being made. Barbers and surgeons regularly performed anatomical dissections on corpses to further their knowledge and practice their craft. Though the guild ultimately divided, associating blood and dissection with the barber could have contributed to the lingering fear of barbers.

In many versions of the Sweeney Todd story, including Christopher Bond’s 1973 play, Sweeney Todd is explicitly identified as a barber-surgeon. In Bond’s version, when Sweeney returns to London, he stages a public competition against another tradesman to see which of them could perform not only the closest, quickest shave but also the most adept tooth-extraction.