• Company (1995)

3/27/25 (Wed)

I had vague memories of Sam Mendes’ Donmar Warehouse production as rather overdone, but I do remember enjoying the performances, especially Adrian Lester as Bobby. When I learned that a filmed version had been broadcast, I immediately looked online and found it.

The director’s concept was to present the show as a figment of Bobby’s imagination, thereby establishing Bobby clearly as the central role rather than as an observer of others. Sondheim himself voices his approval in a video interview shown between acts. I have to say that the approach went over my head at the time and, even knowing the idea this time around, thought the director was taking things too seriously. The theme is not that difficult: does committing to someone mean losing oneself in the process (“Once you’re married, you can never again not have been married”), or is it offset by what we gain in companionship, i.e., company?

The musical stacks the deck against marriage by featuring battling, unhappy and even divorced couples – didn’t the writer know any happy pairs? – but the fact that they all remain together and still push Bobby to marry at the end suggests that they must see something in the arrangement, that the loss of freedom and such is compensated by something on the other side. The cocaine-fueled shenanigans in “Side by Side by Side”, the gay seduction scene and other additions were distracting and pointless. It’s true that Bobby is not well defined as a character, but that’s a problem in the underlying material; his songs, in fact (especially “Someone Is Waiting” and “Being Alive”), offer profound insights. Some of the script’s touches, like Bobby’s proposal to his good friend’s bride (on her wedding night) and Joanne’s lewd invitation to Bobby, are just dumb. Scriptwriter George Furth obviously had issues with relationships, but even so, some of his sequences defy common sense. Sondheim does the heavy lifting and does so magnificently in one of the best scores ever written for the Broadway stage. But the songs still need a book to hang on; pity about this one. In any case, the directorial conceit here just makes the problem worse. (Directors don’t seem to be comfortable with the material as written: one production had all actors playing instruments, while another tried changing Bobby to a woman, which caused other issues. They’d really do best just to stage what they’ve got. The straightforward Town & Gown production in Birmingham, Alabama back in the 1970s is still the best version that I’ve seen.)

Mendes also had an odd approach to certain characters, especially an overly angry Joanne by Sheila Gish that made me wonder how she had any friends at all. Her cynicism is much easier to take when it’s done ironically; it’s way too abrasive here. She spits out the hilarious line “Getting a divorce together” with a poisonous look at her husband, which robs it of its humor. And it ruins “The Ladies Who Lunch” altogether. (I should note that she won an Olivier for this, so British audiences or critics, as inscrutable as ever, must have liked her.) Also, I wonder if the director understood the “Barcelona” scene at all, as when the girl simply laughs when Bobby forgets her name in bed. Wouldn’t she be the least bit miffed? Mendes doesn’t seem to be listening to the material.

On the good side, Lester was terrific as Bobby. His singing voice, though not professional, was perfectly fine for this role, and his dancing skills were impressive. I would have preferred a more bemused take on the role, but again that’s a problem with the direction, not the acting. I was irritated to read that he was the first “black” Bobby, since that implies that he got the role for reasons other than his prodigious talent. He’s one of Britain’s best actors, and it’s nice to see him recorded here. Among the others, Hannah James was a memorable Amy, and Clive Rowe did good work as Harry, especially in “Sorry Grateful”.

The show did keep the setting firmly in the 1960s, which is maybe inevitable given some of the routines like the pot scene, words like “fag” (happily preserved here before Sondheim excised it for a much weaker lyric*), and references to answering services. The choreography was fine, especially “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” and “Side by Side by Side” (though ruined by the cocaine business). The problem was the usual tendency of British directors to darken the material, which does the flimsy show no favors. This is not the best representation of the show. Recommended only for Lester’s performance.

*The old lyric reads: “I could understand a person / If it’s not a person’s bag / I could understand a person / If a person was a fag.” Sondheim evidently had a pang of guilt and changed that in future productions to: “If he said to go away… If he happened to be gay.” Setting aside the apologetic PC-ness and the clumsiness of the new wording (“If he said to go away?” Why would she understand a person who said that? And “happened to be gay”? Sounds way too tentative), it’s a lazy rhyme. It sounds like a West Side Story reject from his “the world is just an address” days. Bag/fag is just a much funnier sound than way/gay. If he didn’t want to deal with gay activists, he could have at least preserved the sense of fun, like: “If women weren’t his bag… If he liked to dress in drag” or such.