As Sarah, Krystin Pellerin enters Company early, and she makes a lasting impression in the role. In Talk Is Free Theatre’s psychologically driven production at The Theatre Centre, Sarah is one half of a marriage that feels combustible, intimate … and unmistakably alive. For Pellerin, that charge is central to the role.“I love Sarah’s passion. She is fierce, a real force of nature,” she says. “I love how Sarah expresses her love and devotion to Harry through competition and combat. It’s infectious, and so much fun to play.”
First staged in 1970, Company marked a decisive shift in musical theatre. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, the show set aside linear storytelling in favour of a series of interconnected encounters. These centre around Bobby, a bachelor turning 35, who interacts with his married friends and girlfriends, each of whom offers a different perspective on intimacy, compromise, and fear.
When it premiered, the musical earned a then-record 14 Tony Award nominations and won six, including Best Musical, cementing Sondheim’s emergence as a major voice in adult, psychologically complex musical theatre. It was recognized as a landmark concept musical: one in which a unifying idea — marriage, companionship, and what it actually means to keep “company”— replaced traditional narrative structure. In the process, it helped push musical theatre toward more psychologically complex, adult subject matter.
Since its premiere, Company has remained a touchstone for artists drawn to Sondheim’s psychologically rich, adult approach to musical theatre. Its songs, among them “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “Being Alive,” “Another Hundred People,” and “Getting Married Today”, have become widely recognized not because they offer easy catharsis, but because they articulate emotional contradictions with uncommon precision. The score’s intricate rhythms, rapid patter, and layered ensemble writing mirror the inner lives of its characters, making the musical as much an emotional landscape as a narrative.
Talk Is Free Theatre’s production leans fully into that interiority. Effectively, the show unfolds within a single fleeting moment: a waking dream inside Bobby’s mind, where time collapses and memory, desire and anxiety collide. For Pellerin, that framing reshapes how she understands Sarah and her marriage to Harry. “I feel like, because the play takes place in Bobby’s dreamscape/ subconscious, it gives me permission to go farther in how intensely Sarah expresses herself and connects with Harry,” she says. “It magnifies the emotion and urgency between them.”
Sarah and Harry’s scene is often remembered for the comic bravura of its drinking games, physical sparring, and sharp reversals. However, its humour rests on a foundation of genuine devotion. Pellerin knows that such comedy only works if the stakes are real. “I’ve always been told with any comedy you can’t play the scene for laughs, the only way it lands is if you play it for real,” she explains. “So I’ve been focusing on throwing my whole self into it, and concentrating on the fiery connection Sarah and Harry have with each other. Hopefully, that balance will come organically.”
That balance depends heavily on her connection with Shane Carty, who plays Harry. Their scenes require precise timing, physical confidence, and a shared willingness to take risks. “I felt instantly comfortable with Shane. He’s so kind and funny and fun to play off of. And because there’s an instinctive trust there, we can really dive into that fight and the comic electricity without hesitation.”
And that sense of trust extends across the entire (ahem) company, which includes Aidan deSalaiz as Bobby, alongside Noah Beemer (Paul), Sydney Cochrane (Amy), Gabi Epstein (Joanne), Sierra Holder (Marta), Jeff Irving (Peter), Madelyn Kriese (Kathy), Richard Lam (David), Jamie McRoberts (Susan), Kirstyn Russelle (Jenny), Michael Torontow (Larry), Maggie Walters (April)– and Pellerin and Carty as Sarah and Harry. “Everyone in the cast is so generous and lovely and incredibly talented,” Pellerin enthuses. “We’re all trusting and supporting each other in every moment of the play. It’s a true ensemble piece through and through.”
Pellerin brings to Sarah a career and skillset that have been shaped by versatility and range. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, her stage work includes roles at Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Soulpepper, spanning characters as varied as Lady Macbeth, Emily in Our Town, and Nellie in Floyd Collins. On screen, she is widely known for her work as Leslie Bennett on Republic of Doyle, a performance that earned her a Canadian Screen Award nomination.
What she hopes audiences of Company take from Sarah is not judgment, but recognition. “I hope audiences take home the passionate, honest, deep, quirky love Harry and Sarah have for each other.” And more broadly, she believes Company has a message that speaks directly to the present moment. “Company is timely because it’s a play that demands us to connect deeply, dial-in and feel the full scope of being alive,” she says.
“With all the ways we’re able to tune out and isolate today, we need a play like Company now more than ever.”
Company runs January 15 to February 1, 2026 at The Theatre Centre. Tickets are available at tift.ca.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
