Company
‘How many times do you get to be 35? Eleven?’ says Robert before his friends ‘surprise’ him for his birthday. Company reached that age in 2005, so we’re up to the eighteenth celebration in Therry’s production of Sondheim’s classic.
The original 1970 Broadway show was nominated for a record-breaking 14 Tony Awards, winning six, including Best Musical. Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics based on a number of one-act plays by George Furth, with whom he collaborated to update the play in the 1990s, and it’s since had a number of successful revivals on Broadway, in London’s West End, and around the world. Its latest incarnation, a 2018 gender-swapping version for the West End, won four Oliviers and its transition to the US earned it a further five Tonys in 2022 – this was the last Broadway show that Sondheim saw before his death.
For Adelaide’s Therry, director David Sinclair presents Company in its original relationship structure, with Robert/Bobby as a genial, single man, wondering if he should get married like all his friends have or are about to. The story is anchored around Robert blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, but we are introduced to vignettes of his recent past. These are presented in a non-chronological order, to show his relationships with the five couples who form his core friendship group, and then his three girlfriends.
The ensemble work well together – each couple having good chemistry with their partners and the other couples. Harry and Sarah (Sam Mannix and Catherine Breugelmans) argue over the minutiae and fail to convince themselves of their intended abstinence to bourbon and brownies, then end in a faux-fight over whether Breugelmans’ ‘ka-ra-te’ can overcome Mannix’s defences.
Peter and Susan (Ryan Ricci and Sophie Stokes) have a less traditional relationship, which confuses Robert. Jenny and David (Grace Frost and Ben Todd) share a joint with Robert, and Frost is great at unwinding the taut Jenny.
Paul and Amy (Daniel Fleming and Emily Morris) are about to get married – and the wedding breakfast scene is the highlight of the show. Morris is outstanding, not just with the quick paced words of ‘Getting Married Today’, but in showing the ever-changing mind of an anxious bride-to-be. Fleming counters her well, his patience slowly transforming to frustration – and the show is most convincing when it’s these two showing Robert what marriage means.
Joanne and Larry are played by Trish Hart and Robin Schmelzkopf, and these two are having a ball in these characters – Joanne being a thrice-married, older woman, who has some great one-liners and a fabulous song in the self-critical ‘The Ladies Who Lunch’.
Robert’s three girlfriends couldn’t be more distinct, and their situations are drawn so well through Marta’s song ‘Another Hundred People’. Claire Birbeck plays the deep-thinking Marta with a distinctive style; Emily Fitzpatrick is Kathy, with whom Robert has a slow-burn relationship; and Cassidy Gaiter devours the role of April, a blonde flight attendant who isn’t that smart. She walks the tightrope of stereotype exceptionally well, giving April the suggestion of a lot more depth behind her simple façade. She shines in ‘Barcelona’ and shifts Robert’s otherwise friendly character to someone a lot more manipulative – which is foreshadowed when this female trio dominate the stage with ‘You Could Drive a Person Crazy’, Linda Lawson’s choreography really shining in songs like these.
The character of Robert is interestingly written: whilst the show is centred around him and his life choices, it’s really an exposition on the romantic relationships of others, for which Robert is mostly an observer. Jared Frost is that slightly-smiling, constantly bemused third-wheel, and he is great at connecting the stories together, channelling the highs and lows of relationships. Yet he doesn’t really evolve his character through the show – challenging anyway when the story-telling is non-linear – but the few moments he cracks to show a different Robert, it feels hastily papered-over before it moves to the next moment from one of the ensemble. Frost is good at joining everyone else’s dots, but it would be great to see more from him solving Robert’s puzzle.
Sinclair uses the Arts Theatre stage well, his actors filling the wonderful, tiered set. This intelligent design from the director is cleverly constructed by Paul Cinneididh, and slickly operated by an invisible crew. Sinclair also designed the projection which is well-used: a great Times Square visage on our entry to the auditorium, and an oversized terrace on the scrim, but mostly through a triptych of bright and light images of our couples (often with Robert).
Tim Bates’ lights are excellent, defining or supporting the mood of the scene whilst keeping our focus on the right people on stage (with the exception of the side lighting in front of the scrim – a few too many faces in shadow when there’s more than a couple of performers). Costumes by Gilian Cordell and Sandy Faithfull help to shape the characters in more ways than physically, and keep the show’s setting timeless. Musical director Rodney Hrvatin keeps his terrific orchestra tight, and the instrumentals don’t drown the singing, which is passionate yet controlled.
Sondheim’s Company is an insightful exploration of romantic relationships at their different stages, without any real judgement on which is ‘better’, or ‘right’. The 2018 revival explored this further from the perspective of a single woman, and also looked at single-sex relationships. Given its recent success, I suspect performing rights may still be restricted for that version. Nevertheless, Therry’s production is strong, relevant, and entertaining, with a fantastic ensemble cast. To paraphrase Robert’s commentary on the wedding breakfast, ‘a festive atmosphere pervades the room’.
Mark Wickett
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