You could say – using an appropriate pun – that Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd balances on a razor’s-edge. Do it big scale, and it can be a disaster – as the first West End production proved. Do it small scale, and it can be a triumph – as the award-winning production by the Watermill at Newbury showed.

At the Amey Theatre, Abingdon Operatic has very successfully combined the best of both worlds. A large – and superbly rehearsed – chorus has plenty of space to scythe out its numbers to chilling effect.

Meanwhile, demon barber Sweeney Todd carries out his murderous affairs upstairs in a small, intimate attic. Little do his victims know that the floor contains a hidden chute, down which they will slide after their deaths. At least it’s all comparatively clean and clinical as the corpses approach their new role in Mrs Lovett’s interestingly flavoured meat pies – no buckets of blood slosh around in this production.

The peachiest role is that of Mrs Lovett, Todd’s gruesome, manipulative assistant. Here, Clare Denton makes the most of the lip-smacking opportunities offered, and carries Sondheim’s notoriously tricky vocal lines with aplomb, as does Ed Blagrove (pictured), who presents a rather aristocratic, almost laid back, Todd. If his mind wasn’t so warped, you could imagine him running a very successful, high-class establishment. He even keeps his cool during the ominous shaving competition with the exotic Pirelli (a hilarious cameo from Kevin Pope). Down in the pit, Sondheim’s orchestral accompaniment is also immensely tricky, but it’s superbly realised by a top-class band, vibrantly conducted by Chris Payne.

In a production that fully appreciates that Sweeney Todd has shafts of humour built in (directors Chris Biggs and the late Phil Garner), there’s only one snag – but it’s a crucial problem. Sondheim’s vital, and superbly crafted, words were too often inaudible from my balcony seat. Put this right, and Abingdon Operatic has a major triumph on its hands.

Until Saturday. Tickets: 01235 834383.