that his own "evil genius did not lead him into the dens of any of those preparers of cannibalic pastry, who are represented in many country legends as doing a lively retail business in the metropolis". Claims that Sweeney Todd was a real person were first made in the introduction to the 1850 (expanded) edition of The String of Pearls and have persisted to the present. In two books, Peter Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a historical person who committed his crimes around 1800. Nevertheless, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations do not find anything in these sources to verify Haining's claims. In literature A late (1890s) reference to the legend of the murderous barber can be found in the poem by the Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson, "The Man from Ironbark". In his 2012 novel Dodger, Terry Pratchett portrays Sweeney Todd as a tragic character, having lost his mind after being exposed to the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars as a barber surgeon. In performing arts In stage productions The String of Pearls (1847), a melodrama by George Dibdin Pitt that opened at Hoxton's Britannia Theatre and billed as "founded on fact". It was something of a success, and the story spread by word of mouth and acquired legendary characteristics. Various versions of the tale were staples of the British theatre for the rest of the century. The play was produced on Broadway during 1924 at the Frazee Theatre, featuring Robert Vivian as Sweeney Todd and Rafaela Ottiano as Mrs. Lovett. Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls (c. 1865), a dramatic adaptation written by Frederick Hazleton which premiered at the Old Bower Saloon, Stangate Street, Lambeth. Sweeney Todd (1962), a four-act melodrama adapted from The String of Pearls by Brian J Burton who also composed new songs and lyrics. It was first performed at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham. Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1973), a play by the British playwright Christopher Bond. This version of the story was the first to give Todd a slightly more sympathetic motive: he is Benjamin Barker, a barber convicted wrongfully who after 15 years in an Australian penal colony escapes and returns to London using the new name Sweeney Todd, only to find that Judge Turpin, who is responsible for his conviction, has raped his young wife and adopted his