A brooding new production of Sweeney Todd is being staged at the Octagon in Bolton from June 9 to July 2.

The production, which is set in a fetish club and features a frankly terrifying-sounding score, is strictly only for over-14s.

And lead actors, Tobias Beer and Ruth Alexander Rubin, say fans of the 2007 film might be in for something of a shock when they see the Sondheim original.

“The film doesn’t have the chorus, and so it doesn’t have that melodrama,” Tobias says.

“In this version there’s the big chorus dragging everything along. Because it’s theatre you can break more rules.”

Ruth adds: “The music is live, so it’s much more exciting.”

Although the subject matter is gory — “Lizzie the director has focused very much on the sex and revenge aspects,” Tobias says — that’s not to say rehearsals haven’t been fun.

“The nature of it is so dark and so grim that you have to make a joke of it in rehearsal,” Ruth says. “Things are so horrific that you have to have a damn good laugh.”

The plot is dark indeed, with the wronged barber returning to London to wreak revenge and slowly sink into sociopathic madness — and gruesome pie-making — with a little help from the “rather stalkerish”, as Ruth puts it, Mrs Lovett.

The production is a return to the Octagon stage for both Tobias and Ruth, who previously took on actor-musician roles in last year’s production of David Copperfield, as well as “straight” parts in several other productions.

And they say it is the music that gives this particular version of the popular show its edge.

“The way they use the music is really frightening,”

Tobias says. “It’s really ominous.”

Ruth adds: “It’s more like an opera. It’s certainly not Andrew Lloyd-Webber. The music is gorgeous, too, though.”

* Sweeney Todd is at the Octagon, Bolton, from Thursday, June 9 until Saturday, July 2. Tickets, £9.50 to £21.50, are available by calling 01204 520661 or visit octagonbolton.co.uk.