After a sell-out season at fortyfivedownstairs in 2015, independent theatre company, Watch This is once again hitting the road presenting their award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company in Geelong, Ballarat and Warragul.
One of the most beloved and ground-breaking works in the Sondheim cannon, Company was among the first to deal with adult themes and relationships that explored love and the struggle for intimacy – the original production was nominated for a record 14 Tony Awards, winning six including Best Direction of a Musical for Hal Prince.
Company showcases an energetic score containing many of Stephen Sondheim’s best known songs including Being Alive, Side by Side, The Ladies Who Lunch, Getting Married Today and Company. Originally a collection of plays written by librettist George Furth, Company was eventually shaped into a musical thanks to the vision of director Harold Prince. Furth reworked the plays into a libretto and Stephen Sondheim was brought in to provide the music.
It’s Robert’s birthday – he’s turning 35 and his closest friends are throwing him a surprise party. Witty and well-liked, living in the heart of New York and dating three gorgeous women, Robert has it all… so why can’t he blow out the candles on his birthday cake and make a wish?
Over a series of dinner parties and first dates Robert attempts to understand the pros and cons of marriage from his diverse and frequently hilarious friends and begins to make sense of his own persistent bachelorhood. Sondheim windows into the lives of five married couples and three women to explore these ideas in all their complexity.
Company earned Watch This its 12th Green Room Award (GRA) nomination and the third in a row for leading man, Nick Simpson-Deeks (Best Supporting Actor: Assassins, 2013 & Pacific Overtures, 2014; Best Leading Actor: Company, 2015).
Under the direction by Kat Henry, musical director by Lucy O’Brien and choreography by Michael Ralph, Company features an outstanding ensemble cast of fourteen led by Simpson-Deeks (Robert), Sally Bourne (Joanne) and GRA nominee Gillian Cosgriff (Sarah), with returning cast members, Bianca Baykara (Marta), Nathan Carter (Harry), Mark Dickinson (David), Nelson Gardner (Paul) and Sonya Suares (Amy).
They will be joined by Lyall Brooks (Harry), Elise Brennan (Jenny), Andrew Kroenert (Peter), Chloe Elisabeth Wilson (Susan), Bronte Florian (April) and GRA nominee, Amy Berrisford (Kathy).
“It’s Sondheim at his most naked, and arguably at his best” - Daily Review
Company
Geelong Performing Arts Centre, 50 Little Malop Street, Geelong
Performances: 26 – 28 May 2016
Information and bookings: www.gpac.org.au
Her Majesty’s Theatre, 17 Lydiard Street South, Ballarat
Performances: 3 & 4 June 2016
Information and bookings: www.hermaj.com
West Gippsland Performing Arts Centre, Corner Smith and Albert Streets, Warragul
Performances: 8 & 9 June 2016
Information and bookings: www.wgac.com.au
For more information, visit: www.watchthis.net.au for details.
Image: Nick Simpson-Deeks plays Robert in Company – courtesy of Watch This