Three barbers will go head-to-head in a battle for tonsorial supremacy in a Tate Modern art installation inspired by the Fleet Street demon Sweeney Todd.

The shave-off is the brainchild of American artist Mario Ybarra Jr, who runs a gallery from a former barber's shop in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

Asked to take part in a new exhibition, The World As A Stage, exploring the relationship between visual art and theatre, he decided to recreate his own LA gallery in the Tate. But Ybarra has added a twist by calling it Sweeney Tate after discovering the story of the barber who killed his customers.

He is bringing his personal hairdresser, Victor Garcia, to take part in the one-day competition on Saturday alongside barbers recruited from Cuts in Soho and Pepis in Camden.

Ybarra said: "I thought there was an interesting relationship between the urban murderous myth of London history and the social atmosphere of a barber shop."

Sweeney Tate is among a number of installations, performances and films in the exhibition, which explores how a sense of theatre has an impact on visitors to a gallery. The centrepiece is Rita McBride's Arena, a fibreglass sculpture in the form of stadium seating.

• The World As A Stage opens on Thursday and runs until 1 January. Admission £7.