The story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street begins the autumn season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.

Steven Sondheim’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd is presented on September 26 to October 26 as a spine-chilling contemporary production.

James Brining, making his debut as artistic director, will re-imagine his award-winning production of 2010.

The show tells how Sweeney Todd, exiled from London for 15 years through a miscarriage of justice, returns to a corrupt and rotten city. Discovering the agonising truth about his wife and daughter, and hell-bent on revenge, he joins pie-maker Mrs Lovett to clean up the city.

Lighter fare comes on September 6-14 as Northern Ballet present A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The show follows the romantic antics of a touring dance company on one magical night as they travel by sleeper train from London to Edinburgh.

A heartbreaking but hilarious chronicle of passion, betrayal and terrorism is promised in a new production of Joseph Conrad’s classic novel, The Secret Agent. The play, suitable for ages 14-plus, tells of secret terror cells, political conspiracy and police bungling in 19th-century London.

My Generation, staged on October 5-26 and set in Leeds, is a story of a family and a city through 40 years of alternative culture. Visit wyp.org.uk or call 0113 2137700 for further information.