Colette Gilmartin & Elaine Brett

Artwork for Sweeney Tod

Colette Gilmartin and Elaine Brett came into Grange to work with yr 10 BTEC pupils for an Aim Higher project called 'PERFORM' and a Royal Northern College of Music collaboration.

The artists were here to produce artwork that would be used as props for the RNCM production of Sweeny Todd by Oldham College students.

Sweeney Todd is a fictional villain. A barber and serial killer, the character appears in various English-language works starting in the mid-19th century. His weapon of choice is a straight razor, with which he cuts his victim's throats; in some versions of the story his friend and accomplice, Margery (sometimes Nellie) Lovett, bakes the carcasses into meat pies. Whether Todd or Lovett actually existed remains a matter of debate.

The pupils made casts and imprints from their body parts, they filled them with a sand and cement mixture. They also made pies from flour and cakes from expanding foam and decorated them with buttons and glitter.

Pupils also went to see a rehearsal for the opera to see how their props would be used in the final production which would be perfomed in the local area, in shopping centres an town squares and then all will come together for a spectacular concert at the RNCM on Thursday 29th June.