ACT I
Anthony Hope, a young sailor, rescues a shipwrecked man who introduces himself as Sweeney Todd, a deported criminal returning to London after serving his prison term. After Sweeney chases away an old beggar woman, he tells Anthony the story of a barber who was unjustly arrested and taken from his wife by Judge Turpin and his beadle. Mrs. Lovett, the owner of a pie shop, invites Sweeney in and tells him a similar story she knows about a wife with a young daughter whose husband was sent away by a judge and his beadle. The judge subsequently ravished the wife, who went insane and took poison. The woman's daughter, Johanna, was then raised by the judge. Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, united by rage and hatred, gleefully plot revenge against Judge Turpin, his beadle, and everyone else in London.
Sweeney has taken up residence in the apartment above Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. Downtown, he meets Pirelli, a rival barber, and his assistant Tobias Ragg. Through a contest which he wins, Sweeney advertises the opening of his new barbershop.
Anthony sees and falls in love with Johanna, who is now grown up. Pirelli and Toby visit Sweeney's barbershop. When Pirelli recognizes Sweeney as an escaped convict and threatens blackmail, Sweeney slashes his throat. Judge Turpin, having fallen in love with Johanna, announces his intention to marry her. Johanna and Anthony then decide to get married immediately. The Beadle suggests that Judge Turpin get a shave to make himself more attractive, and the two go to Sweeney's barbershop. Sweeney is about to kill Turpin when Anthony arrives, gushing about his love for Johanna, which enrages Judge Turpin.
Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney devise an ingenious way to dispose of Pirelli's corpse-they add it to the filling of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies. Sweeney acquires a chair that will eject his victims down a chute leading to the pie shop. There, Mrs. Lovett, with an unwitting Toby as her assistant, bakes meat pies that become all the rage in London. The old beggar woman lurks about, looking for a handout.
ACT II
The jealous Judge Turpin has Johanna sent away to an insane asylum. Anthony plans to rescue her, disguised as a wigmaker looking for Johanna's particular haircolor. Sweeney baits Judge Turpin by writing a note informing him that he will foil Anthony's plan by keeping him at the barbershop, where the judge may intercept him. To check into complaints about the smell of burning hair, the Beadle pays a visit to Mrs. Lovett and is murdered by Sweeney. Anthony succeeds in freeing not only Johanna, but every inmate in the asylum. Toby, finding human hair and fingernails in the meat pies and the chute in action, goes mad. The old beggar woman enters the pie shop. Sweeney, desperate not to miss yet another opportunity to kill Judge Turpin, hastily kills the beggar woman to get her out of the way. Sweeney lures Turpin into the barber chair and cuts his throat. As Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett begin disposing of all of the bodies by throwing them in the oven, Sweeney recognizes the dead beggar woman as his long-lost wife. Realizing that Mrs. Lovett has known this secret all along, Sweeney throws her into the oven. The crazed Toby, devoted to Mrs. Lovett, kills Sweeney and grinds him up before the horrified eyes of Johanna and Anthony.
