[WickedToo]

I have two questions about the beginning scene of Sweeney Todd. (1) What is the significance of the white cloth being ripped down? (2) Is the "bag" that the two men are carrying supposed to be Sweeney's dead body?

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83F_OHrnhgo&feature=PlayList&p=8B2D4FF3208070DD&index=0&playnext=1

[bellaenchante]

From what i know the sheet represents the vail being pulled off your eyes so to speak and the bag is sweeney and they put him the oven and in this version thats how he rose. In other versions they have him rising from the grave, same differance in my opinion

[dehaveyoulicious]

Scrawled on the white cloth are caricatures depicting the social classes of 19th century London - the ones you see over the opening credits. It's almost a prologue in itself, giving you bits of information you need to understand Sweeney's situation. Ripping it down takes you from the world of caricature to the world of the play.

[bellaenchante]

or "real" world

[Barberous]

The OBCR liner notes say this about the white sheet:

"In [this] version of the saga of Sweeney Todd...Todd is presented as a victim of society... On a white cloth suspended from the ceiling was a large diagram of the British Beehive, a symbol of industry and harmony. From top to bottom it depicted the royal family, the constitution, trial by jury, religious freedom, law and equity, figures representing the educated and commercial classes as well as tradesmen and labourers. The state, the church and the social nexus that fueled the industrial world of 19th-century England were displayed as a set of interlocking parts that dwarfed the individual... A piercing whistle sounds, and workmen tear down the British Beehive as if to suggest the disintegration of an ordered society."