Sweeney & Lovett - Did They Eat the Pies?

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:29pm

One thing I've always wondered about Sweeney and Lovett is if they ever ate the pies that Mrs. Lovett made?

They were the only two who knew what was in them. Sweeney had no problem killing his customers and Lovett had no problem baking them into pies...were they mad enough to eat them, too? Or did knowing what was in them make them impossible to eat?

At some point Sweeney and Lovett had to eat before her business picked up...did they sample the pies?

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:31pm

I don't think so...

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:34pm

They ordered in. I doubt they ate those pies!

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:35pm

This isn't meant to be a funny question.

In all honesty...were both of them mad enough to be driven to the point of inhumanity where it didn't even phase them to eat the pies.

[Taka]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:36pm

FOA, you think too much. :)

[harris007]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:36pm

mrs.l would of had to sample them to get the correct flavor and such

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:37pm

Well we know Toby ate them.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:38pm

Taka, it's called character research.

Any good director would have the answer to that question. Or, the actor playing the part would have to make that decision for themselves. Is their Lovett inhumane enough to eat the pies...or is that too much even for her?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:49pm

Foanatic, I think it's an extremely interesting question. Now I will question whether each production of Sweeney I see is communicating an answer through their subtext.

I'd like to see some clue that they've gone mad enough to eat the pies, in a production.

Dog eat dog, and all that.

[Taka]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 10:57pm

I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that it never occurered to me to ask the question. Apologies.

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:00pm

I never really pictured them going to that level... I really think infinitetheaterfrenzy is spot on in saying that it depends on the production/actor... for me I could not see Angela Lansbury's Lovett eating human pies.

[Elphie3]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:02pm

Yeah I sort of feel like their joy came out of watching other people do something so disgusting and inhuman. I don't think they wanted to try it themselves. It's like in the original "Snow White" when the Witch cooks Snow's "heart" into a pie and serves it to her father. It's the thrill of the other person not knowing what they're doing.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:03pm

I don't think they would, personally. The joy seems to come from the hacking up/baking up, not from consuming the end product. [Insert cliche about the journey being more important than the destination.]

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:48pm

Oh my gad, I'm glad I'm not the only person who's ever wondered that... I just always figured it was the sort of macabre sentiment you weren't supposed to express to other people :P

[Rotel1026]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:53pm

Aren't they admitting to at least tasting the pies in "A Little Priest?"

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 11:58pm

The people pies aren't made yet during A LITTLE PRIEST. They both conceive the idea during PRIEST. And they imagine and fantasize about all the possibilities.
Updated On: 11/24/07 at 11:58 PM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 1:44am

ljay- Doesn't that depend on how the director directs PRIEST? They could very well be trying the pies, like a number that takes place over a course of many days. You can interpret it in different ways.

[Midnight Radio]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 2:05am

Not really. At the time of "A Little Priest" we know Sweeney has only murdered one person, Pirelli, and they are discussing what to do with him. They talk about how certain people would taste in pies, but they are certainly not actually sampling actual pies made of people. The whole song is just them joking with one another about such a sick and twisted subject.

There is no evidence in the actual show as it is written that they eat the pies, and I would seriously doubt that they actually do, but I would suppose it could be left open to personal interpretation. You will just be hard pressed to find any evidence to support this in the source material...

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 2:51am

I bet they at least tasted them... you know, to confirm that the clergy really is too coarse and too mealy.

[Baine]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 4:58am

I also thought the song was moving forward in time during "A Little Priest." In the recent revival, I kind of remember a scene with Mrs. Lovett and a plate, and Sweeney was tasting from the plate.

Am I mis-remembering the scene?

Good, thought-provoking question, though! ^_^

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:03am

See, that's the thing with Doylizing. Is Sweeney miming eating the pie or miming miming eating the pie?

Seriously, he's not eating the pie. No pies are consumed during "A Little Priest". They're joking about potential pies, and Sweeney brings it back to reality with the Judge and Beadle comments.

[nitsua]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 6:09am

I've wondered about this too!

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 8:53am

It has never been confirmed in the history books that it actually took place. Names and places, yes, but actual events not fully confirmed.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:40am

I have never actually thought about that. I don't think they would have cuz they actually knew what was in them.

However, I think Sweeney would have wanted a slice of the pie Turpin ended up in. After all, he did say:

I'll come again when you
Have JUDGE on the menu

But in A Little Priest, they're fantasizing about how people would taste. And how dare they say that actor arrives overdone.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:25am

No they did not eat the pies.