Beadle Bamford

Character development
Beadle Bamford is a middle-aged man of class and power. He works for Judge Turpin as his type of assistant. He
is the high end of society but the low-end of the rich and wealthy. He does jobs for the judge and sees it as for
the good of the world and he talks and acts like he is gift from God which is shown by his overuse in saying
“always glad to be of service to his community” which he says twice in the same scene. Even though he sees
himself as higher power and righteousness, he is used by Judge and cared for little by him which is shown
through how Judge completely ignored Beadle when he tells Judge about his daughter's birthday, he is seen as
an annoyance by people like Mrs. Lovett which I think represents how most of the people feel about him. During
the play he plays more of the background and connecting the dots kind of character such as brining lucy to
where she gets raped, introducing the judge to the man and the place he would later get killed in and is the
reason the beggar women enter the barber shop which results in her death.

In the backstory of beadle, I see him coming from a wealthy background however still seen as a common person
compared to the true rich and wealthy like the judge, which is why he turns out to have a job higher up than
common people but is still meant to serve well standing people like the judge. I believe that the beadle grew up
as the teacher's pet, bullied by most however once becoming better standing, he would then take the anger he
had from being looked down on, onto the community who would act up against him. I see Beadle being a
mommy's boy however once reaching an older age, I believe he was picked on by his dad and being called a
wuss which is why he then has the unjustified, sexist idea of women being weak. And, in the result of his sexist
arrogance that women are like objects, I think he is a man who expects women to flaunt over him, how he
believes he is irresistible and how it's easy to control and get women which is all shown in his song “ladies in
their sensitivities” where he literally sates “ladies my lord are weak”.

Over the course of the play and the backstory I envisioned him having, I see his class as the lower end of higher
class but the high end of the middle class. Meaning, to most people he is rich, and people would wish to be like
him and have his kind of power, but to people like the
Judge, he is just like everyone else and has very little money
or power. However, as I have said to normal people he is
seen with power, by people such as Pirelli where Pirelli uses
beadle Bamford's name to strike fear and threaten sweeney
Todd which shows that the name of Beadle Bamford does
hold power over people. Another time its shown is when
Anthony is at the asylum and Beadle states how he will get
the police on Anthony which he states with such casualness
which shows that beadle has easy access to the police and
can summon them easily which shows he either has friends
in the police or has the power to control them which in any
city or place, that shows they has status.

As I have stated already, I believe that people see him as a higher power, but as a person, everyone sees him as
just a common person with nothing special about him and nothing to respect. During the asylum scene between
 Anthony and beadle, Anthony describes people like Beadle as “corrupt” which I think shows how obvious and
viciously corrupt Beadle and Judge are, as Anthony is the only pure character through the entirety of the play,
not only that but he is freshly going into London after seeing the world and how he thinks the world is beautiful
and free but then to see the darker side of the world. This reaction shows that the most innocent and purest
person in the play can see and feel the evil that bleed through from Beadle and how Beadle is so obviously evil
and yet he is allowed to do as he wishes, along with judge and I assume other people in position of power.

the way I wanted to present Beadle was as a slimy and creepy person but who also takes pride in his status. So
taking that into consideration, through the weeks of rehearsals I tried to see what would work and what didn’t,
at first I tried more of a grovel type of voice, but it didn’t fit with the lines and the purpose of the scenes so after
realizing a grovel voice didn’t suit him, I leaned more towards a classical higher class man where the voice would
come across in a posh accent but also with another the top in how much I pronounce the vowels such as I would
carry a vowel longer than necessary. For example when my character says “community” I would over pronounce
the letter U which I think gave of the impression he was rubbing his status of articulation off which also meant
that it was very much in their faces and a very prominent voice in the scene which I think Beadle would always
be desperate to be, to be the one everyone's focusing on and has the voice everyone is meant to listen to as
wise guidance in life. However, I think when he is in the scenes with Judge, I believe he is scared whenever he
asks something or talks to him such as when he tries to suggest time off to go to see his daughter, he never asks
and only suggests which suggests that he doesn’t feel he can ask freely and that he fears but also respects him
like a father. So, when speaking to judge I feel he talks lighter, not a posh and not like he’s trying to shove it in
his face, as he is most likely scared and feels inferior to him. I believe that Beadle is very precise with his
articulation being clear. When rehearsing his lines, I found that his pronunciation would be very profound and a
clear distinct voice in most rooms, while in London you have very similar accents that intertwine, I believe
beadle speech would be his own take on being posh, so he sounds as if he is almost making fun of the accent,
where he takes the accent so far it sounds like he’s mocking them. I also believe that he should have a smooth
sounding voice but of course, for it to sounds incredibly fake, to the point of him speaking as if he was an opera
singer however, I think when he gets angry, upset, or flustered, I think he would slip in his voice and return to a
more classic London accent.

I believe that beadle Bamford will always see himself higher than
everyone apart from when faced with just the judge. For example, when
refereeing the contest or when telling Anthony to back off in ‘Johanna’
and the asylum scene, I believe that beadle would stand tall in his
posture, his chest would be forward, and his legs would remain straight
with very little give in his posture. And for his head I believe he would
keep his head up high and slightly tilted back so he must look down to see
whoever he is speaking to, if he does look at someone, because I believe
that in his lines, especially the longer ones, he spends a lot of them
looking out as if he is always facing towards a crowd of people and he is
giving a speech. However, I believe that when he speaks to the judge,
especially when asking him for something or telling him about women in ‘ladies in their sensitivities’ I believe
that he purposely makes himself smaller when engaging with judge in conversation as he fears the judge and
becomes submissive when he is around which is a decision I made when doing the court room scene as I am not
only carry his stuff but, in my lines, I try and suggest a day off without even asking which shows I'm scared of
him which would then suggest that in my body language, I wouldn’t be as up right and mighty as I would not
believe to be the biggest status in the room with judge there.
For me, I see beadle as being as righteous and fair as if he was sent by God because in everything he does, he
never ACTS like he’s doing the right thing; he has become convinced that he is. This is something I can see a
common occurrence in how he acts over the entire course of the play. Not only in something oblivious like
‘ladies in their sensitivities’ but also in scenes such as contest where I realized when I was saying lines when
rehearsing, such as “always glad to be of service to my community” which is when I thought of my character
always looking out into the audience as if he is giving the kings speech. And this idea made me relate my
character to lord Farquaad from Shrek. Which I know is a completely different story, but the idea of a small man
who sees himself higher than others, only saying things that he knows a leader should say without meaning it
and in the exact same manner as lord Farquaad. There are many other characters I could relate how I envisioned
him acting like, but I think lord Farquaad or even our government leader Boris Johnson, the idea of a character
who acts like he cares so much for people and that he’s a saint who is blessing the earth with his wisdom but
comes off and an insecure selfish person who looks down on every character and only respect judge for the
power he has. Because of his belief he is wise and a voice that people will listen to. I believe he is confident in
everything he is saying which also would link into how that he is direct in the way he talks an act. In the same
way as him believing he is above others, I would also see that in his direct manner by how he moves with
purpose and never wavers in his approach, he walks with purpose and every action is done boldly and with
force.

I believe overall that beadle is not good around other people, he is never nice or understanding or empathetic
and he only does things which he sees as right in his arrogance. In his first scene with Anthony, he kills a bird and
threatens Anthony, this choice of actions and words shows that he is rash and has no trouble showing his power
and superiority around others and putting fear against people, even strangers. This character decision mixed
with my choice of him smiling to himself and getting up close into Anthony’s face shows that he takes pleasure
in using rash actions against anyone just to show his misplaced authority. The idea of him smiling while he
breaks the bird’s neck, came to me naturally as we were running the scene and I felt like he would take pleasure
in squashing a little creature as he saw them inferior and never saw the beauty. I also felt that he would get up
into Anthony’s face when threatening him to show how that even though beadle isn’t a fighter or a strong type
of man, he knows the over he holds and the authority he has which meant that he could freely do as he wishes
especially with the judge with him.

Another time I decided in how Beadle would act with others is to have him pull back his hand from a handshake
when Mr. Todd first goes in for one and then for him to shake his hand at the end of the same scene. I chose
these to different responses to a handshake to show that when he is called upon by someone, he does not let
them think or retain the idea it’s their idea and they have the authority and biggest voice in the room. The
pulling back of the hand when Mr. Todd goes in for it is an idea that shows not only that he takes back the
power in the room but also shows how he feels about being official with ‘lesser people’, which is that he doesn’t
even fee that he can shake their hand and I portrayed him in the scene as being disgusted by it which I wanted
to show, to show that he thinks of poorer and less statured people as animals.

A key detail I wanted to maintain in most of the scene’s beadle is in,

especially when he is in a scene with a woman. Is that he is incredibly
creepy and makes the atmosphere, audience and even the actors
uncomfortable. I chose this before we even started rehearsing because
I always envisioned him as a man who thinks he’s a people person
thinks he’s a lady man but in fact just makes everyone feel weird. I
wanted to achieve this by some of his pronunciation in his word such as
“community” and “ladies”, and many others in his scenes. The way I
wanted to achieve this is to either have glaring eye contact when saying these words, whether it was to the
actor or someone in the audience which would create this unnerving feel as in life people who hold eye contact
for a long time can make the person, they are looking at feel uncomfortable and normally other people in the
room. Another way I wanted to make him seen as creepy is to have him pronounce words such as “community”
and “ladies” by making them overly articulated and slightly change in manner when spoken. For example, when
I say “community” in the parlor songs scene I decided to do a sight pause look out to the audience on the word
before it and then look back at Mrs. Lovett before
continuing to say “community” as I think that
would show him almost trying to seduce Mrs.
Lovetts as he thinks he’s a ladies man and for an
audience to see a failed, creepy attempt at flirting,
is a subtle way of making the audience feel
incredibly uncomfortable by how everyone has
had there on experience they can linkback to, for
the scene to become relatable which creates even
more emotion surrounding it. I think overall
Beadle worked best when I developed him into
being relatable by the audience as trying to do
something on stage to create a reaction and then
having to explain in movements or actor’s expressions of why that reaction is necessary would make it
underwhelm and not aways sure if you could get the right reaction. However, as I did, if you try and take a script
already set out and add a little motive into what my character is trying to achieve, it could make it a lot more
relatable and therefore more reactive from the audience and less unnecessary work for the other actors.

During the rehearsals, looking at what beadles’ habits would be difficult because of the type of character I
wanted to make, I didn’t want to make him gross by being ill or picking something from his body however I also
didn’t want to not have any kind of habit but one that suited him because of his status and of the way he views
himself. Which is where I came up with the idea when I was given my costume. My costume was a little big for
me and the blazer sometimes folded in on itself, so which is why I gave my character the habit of always
checking his suit to make sure it looked good such as checking the blazers collar was down, that the suit didn’t
puff out and that his tie was straight. I think this was one of the most key parts for my character as it shows that
he cares so much about how he looks but also that he might be insecure about himself which is why he
convinces himself that he is amazing and is also why he aways
must check to make sure he looks good. However even though
that could be the case, a conflicted feeling I had about it was
that beadle didn’t necessarily care about what people thought
but just didn’t have to worry about common things which is why
he has the time and the brain power to worry about useless
things. And what I mean by this is that in his stature and power,
he doesn’t have to worry about even the first idea to affording
clothes or common chores that everyone must do which means
his priorities are completely different to ours. Another decision I
made for beadle is that he would always check his hair. Through
the play it is mentioned many times that beadle is meant to be
greasy, and I see that through his hair, the idea he wants his hair t look perfect but doesn’t know how to style
his own hair so then he just puts lots of gel through it which even though keeps it in its place, makes it look
horribly slimy and greasy. I made this decision for the same reason as for his clothes, I wanted to have a thing he
can obsessive over while giving the impression to other characters and the audience of his status and priorities
 however the good thing about the hair being greasy is when a person constantly touches it when its super
greasy, its gross so in turn it then adds the gross and unhygienic element to his character.

During the pay you can argue how much beadle trusts people however when rehearsing and listening to others
think of how I would react, most people said it was obvious he wouldn’t trust anybody, However I believe that is
not true and especially for my interpretation of beadle, I believe that he is one to take things for granted and to
trust people very easily because of what he takes for granted. For instance he believe he is a gods git to women
however that of course is far from the truth, and in the same
way that I believe because of Beadle stature and power and
contacts, I believe he takes that for granted and as he loves
to say he does things for the community and how he
believes he does the right thing by them, he would then take
it all for granted and think because of all of that, the people
trust him and see him as one of the righteous, honest
protectors of them which again, is far from the truth. When
it comes to the judge its very conflicted whether it would be
scene that he trusts the judge because there has been no
line or scenario of where he could and would trust him
however if you take things that could relate to trust and no
trust, for instance when he wants time off for his daughter’s birthday, he is enable to, which for a father having
the fear o asking for something for their daughter shows that he is so scared of judge that he doesn’t TRUST
what he would do. I believe that trust comes with being comfortable with someone (most of the time) and there
are lots of examples to show Beadle being different around the judge by the way I chose hi to speak and act
around him and in what he actually says which shows he is not comfortable around the judge which then can
infer to him not trusting or being necessarily close as a friend to judge which again shows that he cannot trust
what the judge would do or say from said actions.

During the ‘ladies in their sensitivities’ scene, it is the first and only scene where you see beadle being humbled
and intimidated. This was a key point where I had to think of how I wanted
to do it and what my reaction would be. During this scene I tried many
reactions to Judge being angry and intimidating to see what would work and
what wouldn’t, however I landed on the idea that I would get overconfident
and then suddenly humbled. For example, when I say about the judge being
a bit untidy and having “personal disorder” in ladies in their sensitivities is
when I have confidence and got cocky with the ability to say what I think
which then gave beadle the confidence to insult him more which then
ended up him making judge angry which is shown in this picture. The idea of
me overstepping my place in front of judge which through the entire play
only happens once, is because it not only reminds the audience of who Judge is to beadle, but we also thought it
could be a comedic moment to have beadle insulting him and freely showing what he thinks. The idea of beadle
panicking after he realizes what he has just said to beadle was what me and lily (our director) came up with after
deciding to put emphasis on the words “they” and “ladies” in the verse “meaning no offence it happens they
resent it, ladies in their sensitivities” at the end of the second verse. This last part, to us, was beadle panicking
and saying that it isn’t him who thinks this which is why I emphasize the words “ladies” and “they” to try and
convince judge that its them who think all tis and not me to try and get the ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ excuse
which does end up working.
Our recreation of the play was set in the 21st century which means the costumes and styles had to change
however beadles’ style didn’t change that much, it changed from an 1800 style suit to a more modern suit
however the style and enthused idea of what beadle looks like stayed the same. My costume was black blazer
and trousers with light stripes going down it, a blue tie, and a classic white shirt. We did have a conversation
about what colour tie to get because he suit would suit a red tie more however, we wanted the style to replicate
the Torys as we saw judge and beadle as classic tory voters so then we chose blue to keep that subtle
connection between them. Another small decision that we made in the costume was that the suit would slightly
be too big, and that decision was made as we looked at
beadle and judge and saw a ‘kid wearing his dads clothes’
type of dynamic from beadle, where he wanted to dress and
act like Judge but ends up looking a bit ridiculous. We chose
this dynamic because the type of beadle I chose for him to
be, it gives a needy, wanting to be their role model type of
character dynamic and in doing so also gives a bit of history
to the audience in the play and gives a comedic effect.

A clear character trait I wanted to stay through out the play

from beadle, was how disgusting he thoughts others where
and how clean he wants to be himself. To do this I made a
clear disgust feeling in my expression whenever someone
lower status character would shake my hand, and I would proceed to wipe it off. Another time I would show my
disgust in uncleanliness would be in parlor songs where, as Mrs. Lovetts is talking, I made the decision to swipe
my finger along the furniture and look again in disgust and then again proceed to wipe it off. I made these
common habits in my character to retain the idea that even when a scene is happening where it doesn’t revolve
around me being uptight, I keep the characteristics of being uptight and over exaggerative about how clean
things are, to sort of represent a type of OCD and to show that my character is way more use to places being
freshly cleaned.