Company

There is no conventional plot. It was a collage-like set of scenes on the theme of marriage, life in New York City circa 1970, and learning how to let go and connect with another individual versus living your life alone. The central character, Robert, is single and turning 35. The show unfolds over three variations of his 35th birthday party, as well as scenes examining all of the pros and cons of marriage with five married couples who are friends with Robert, as well as three girls Robert is dating. The show ends somewhat ambiguously, as Robert "escapes" from his married friends, although the climactic song "Being Alive" seems to suggest that he's had a breakthrough (ie: "Alone is alone, not alive!") that one suspects will lead him to find the right person with whom to spend his life. (That last point is open to debate, of course, but that's the way I've always read it...ambiguous, but hopeful).

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Updated On: 5/21/04 at 05:59 PM

And to add a charcteristic to the married friends, they are a bit overly obsessed with Robert's life. Especially the women. Not because they are stalkers but because their own marriages are either falling apart or on the fritz, so they use Robert as a way of keeping together.

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The wives have a weird kind of half-maternal, half-romantic interest in Robert. "Poor Baby" is one of my favorite songs in the show. Every time I think about how the women are "the only tenderness he's ever known" I think "poor baby," too. :)