Youngish men who are scared of emotional commitment are just as common now as they were in the ’70s. Nevertheless, it’s a mistake to update this acute musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth.
The language is of the period; the technology adds very little, bar making one wonder why all the characters aren’t permanently clutching phones; and middle-aged parents smoking pot for the first time were a feature of then, not now.
The grungy intimacy of Southwark Playhouse suits a very urban musical about a man reassessing his life on his thirty-fifth birthday with rather too much help from his married friends. The almost plotless book flits from couple to couple as the challenges of marriage are explored via some classic songs.
In a talented cast, Katie Brayben stands out as the air hostess who has to go to ‘Barcelona’, and Cassidy Janson steams through ‘Getting Married Today’. On the other hand, Rupert Young’s Bobby is more cad than confused and although Joe Fredericks’s production is full of enjoyable details, he never gets to the poignant heart of the piece.