Reader Reviews
The Norman Conquests - Table Manners/Living Together/Round and Round the Garden (Old Vic Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Irritating and dull. The odd line sparkles but every character seems so insular and glib. Very disappointing. - addicted to theatre | 20 Apr 10 |
| Good acting, but did seem dated. The audience seemed to enjoy it but I am usually left cold by this kind of thing - Donkey's Years for instance. The final scene between Ben Miles and Jessica Hynes was very well done though. - houndtang | 06 Dec 08 |
| Despite the disclaimers it really is essential to see all three plays to fully appreciate the interlocking stories but also to appreciate Aycockbourn's genius in creating such a clever and brilliant concept. Although the garden play is the weakest it is a good one to see first as it best establishes Annie and Norman's situation. Table Manners is the funniest, including an absolutely hysterical meal (Tom on his small chair is enough to bring the house down) but also features some of the most vicious fighting between the couples. Living Together is more typical of later Aycockbourn and ties up the stories superbly without suggesting that this is the end of their troubles. A superb ensemble bring these wonderful characters to life and this is an complete triumph for the Old Vic. - David Baxter | 27 Nov 08 |
| I loved it! Ayckbourn's witty, ingenuious tragi-comedy has lost none of its freshness since it premiered thirty five years ago and with a terrific cast, well paced direction and imaginative staging the Old Vic have a triumph on their hands. It should get a longer run, certainly more Marathons which is the way I saw it last Saturday and even a transfer to NYC so that our American cousins are allowed an opportunity to relish in Alan Ayckbourn's genius for depicting the human condition from a very British perspective. A masterpiece! The redesigned auditorium too is a great success save for the view from behind the front benches. These should be removed as when they are occupied they cause too much visual obstuction for the rows behind. Apart from that with two more bars and more loos who could complain. - rds | 24 Nov 08 |
| Round and Round the Garden. The first thing that strikes you obviously is the reconfiguration of The Old Vic, which is an astonishing achievement. It's the first time I have enjoyed the experience of actually watching a play at this most overrated of theatres and it's a shame it will be coverted back for the Bridge Project next year. Now, if they could just sort out the ridiculous queues for the loos . . Apparently Round and Round the Garden is the weakest of The Norman Conquests trilogy and whilst I enjoyed it a great deal it was no better than a well written comedy. We're back again next week for the remaining two plays so hopefully the interlocking of the stories will justify the 5-star reviews of most of the ctitics. - David Baxter | 19 Nov 08 |
| As the WOS review said, comparisons are odious but I'm going for it anyway. In 1976, this was a landmark in theatre comedy, Ayckbourn's coming of age and coming to town in the first of the interlinked/alternate ending series of plays. It was also cast with actors who WOULD BECOME household names in TV sitcoms, not those who had already achieved the dubious honour and thereby lies the failure of the Old Vic production. Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon already had impressive stage credentials, and it's not fair to set their reputations against Stephen Mangan and Ben Miles respectively. Mangan is an excellent TV actor, deservedly rated for Green Wing as much as his Barclaycard adverts, but he's miscast as the wild and woolly Norman, failing to emulate Courtenay's touching pathos and vulnerability, and whilst sexy on the small screen, unkempt and undressed for the stage he seems to have lost his allure. Ben Miles does much better in the role of Tom the vet, but his tragic flaw is simply that he is not Michael Gambon. Ayckbourn writes best for women and two of the three female characters in Norman Conquests became archectype for possibly two of the most popular TV characterisations ever. 'The Good Life' writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey chose Felicity Kendal and Penelope Keith after seeing them perform on stage together in The Norman Conquests and the characters of Margo and Barbara have an obvious debt to The Norman Conquests. Amanda Root doesn't have the stature to be as commanding as Keith, and seems all the more shrewish and peevish by comparison, Jessica Hynes (Stephenson) is another immensely talented TV writer and actor, but can't achieve the girlish vulnerability of Kendal's Annie and has been dressed appallingly by a costume designer who I would guess didn't live through it and therefore treats the period as a joky freak show, instead of researching more accurately the fashion of the mid-70s. Pitching the play in the round lends it a new initimacy - although these are not necessarily characters with whom one would wish to be intimate since all of them have an unpleasant side - and this encouraged some of last night's audience to contribute to the dialogue, it might even encourage Ayckbourn to develop an interactive script. Saw Andrew Lloyd Webber in the audience, I hope he's not considering turning it into a musical. - JohnnyFox | 22 Oct 08 |
| The publicity may say that you can see one or all the plays in any order, but I don't think that's strictly true. You need the full-immersion treatment to fully appreciate this layer-by-layer deconstruction of a set of relationships. I had this misconception of Ayckbourne being a bit twee and comfortably bourgeois. Not a bit - this is a searing indictment of middle-class mores, with Norman an unstoppable force of nature at the heart of a conventional, mildly repressed family. This production had everything - both funny and bitter-sweet, and brilliantly acted by all. I saw all three plays last Saturday. It was a long time to spend in the theatre in one day, but it simply sped by, and seeing them all one after the other allows one to appreciate the brilliance of Aykbourne's construction. - Robbie | 21 Oct 08 |
| The last Ayckbourn play I saw - last year's West End revival of Absurd Person Singular - as dreadfully dated and made me wonder if there was any mileage in reviving his work. Well this one scrubs up very well indeed, largely due to an extraordinary transformation of the Old Vic into an in-the-round auditorium and an excellent ensemble. I only saw Round & Round the Garden and I'm not convinced I want to see the other two, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same. - Gareth James | 30 Sep 08 |
