'Company' at The Queen's Theatre

Last Sunday it was 'Merrily We Roll Along' and today it was another production in the Sondheim at 80 series, 'Company'. Again, it was a staged concert version of the musical with the Donmar cast reunited and staring the excellent Adrian Lester and Sophie Thompson. It was the same format as last week, with a production of the whole show without sets or costumes, the cast sitting in a large semi-circle on stage throughout just getting up and moving to lecterns for their lines and songs.

I haven't seen 'Company' before and was a bit surprised to find it all about marriage, the good, the bad and the accidental, set in a knowing New York. It strings together different scenes with various married couples who all know our hero, Bobby (Adrian Lester) who is the only single person in the show and who keeps saying he's ready for marriage yet somehow isn't married.

I'm sure there are people out there who will know the exact number of words in each Sondheim play but this one seemed very wordy to me, more words and fewer songs than usual. It also seemed to have a cast of actors who can sing rather than singers who can act. Adrian Lester is a fine actor and a charismatic centre for the production but he's not a singer ... or so I thought until the final song of the production, his song where he can let rip and let rip he did most excellently. And Sophie Thompson is a fine actress who did herself proud with 'I'm Not Getting Married' at breakneck speed. I also liked Haydn Gwynne's drunken 'Ladies Who Lunch', even spilling her drink with some expansive arm movements. There were some nice comic performances in what was otherwise a rather serious production but the audience loved it and awarded it a standing ovation at the end.

So, that's another Sondheim musical I can cross off the list. There are still more to come but that's four in the last few months: 'Into The Woods', 'Passion', 'Merrily We Roll Along' and 'Company'. Wonder what will be next?