The Lights on Fleet Street

I'd love for the atmosphere of Fleet Street to be shrouded in gas light. Slightly tonally shifted from natural lighting, gas lighting should coat each person with a sickly pallor. Below are three images, the most iconic stolen from the Excorcist, which captured a similarly eery tone on film.

You can read about gas lighting in theater here: http://www.compulite.com/stagelight/html/history-4/history-4-text.html

The Poor & Destitute

The ensemble of our players will make up the poor, the beggar class. Through oppression, men, like the Judge and the Beadle, have forced others into this class, people like Benjamin Barker, Lucy, and Mrs. Lovett. 

These people should be a part of the 'unwashed masses.' Often as a part of their oppression they have been abused and imprisoned, their infirmities often stretch beyond tattered clothes, and include physical ailments.

The Judge & The Beadle

The Judge and the Beadle represent the upper class, the oppressors of London. Before our play begins, these two men imprison and export Benjamin Barker to Australia. After he is shipped away, they plot to seduce and then rape his wife Lucy. The Judge leaves Lucy for dead and takes in her daughter, eventually coming to lust after her, as well. They exploit their power and position to hurt those with not strength to stop them.

I'd like their outfits to express their decadence, their lust, and their status. You'll see below that judges robes of the time were often red, I LOVE this. It seems decadent, not conservative, and red is a color often associated with violence and lust.

The Fleet Street Dragon

This is an incredible statue that haunts Fleet Street:

Fleet Street

I've spent some time looking at images of Fleet Street, the home of Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop & Sweeney Todd's tonsorial parlor. These are some beautiful examples of the architecture of the time.