Theatre News

Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests casting announced

Blanche McIntyre’s production will be staged in-the-round, a first for Chichester Festival Theatre

Jonathan Broadbent, Sarah Hadland and Trystan Gravelle will perform in Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests
Jonathan Broadbent, Sarah Hadland and Trystan Gravelle will perform in Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

The cast has been announced for The Norman Conquests at Chichester Festival Theatre this autumn.

The cast includes Jonathan Broadbent (My Night with Reg, Donmar Warehouse), Trystan Gravelle (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, National Theatre), Sarah Hadland (TV's Miranda and What's in a Name? Birmingham Rep), John Hollingworth (The Power of Yes, National Theatre), Hattie Ladbury (The Importance of Being Earnest, Festival Theatre) and Jemima Rooper (One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre).

The stage at Chichester Festival Theatre has been adapted for the theatre's first ever ‘in-the-round’ production. A bank of seating on what is normally the rear part of the stage will allow the play’s action to be seen from all sides.

It is also a first for Blanche McIntyre who has never directed a production at Chichester Festival Theatre before. Her recent work includes Titus Andronicus (RSC), As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia (ETT).

The Norman Conquests will be designed by Simon Higlett with lighting by Johanna Town, music by Olly Fox and sound by George Dennis.

The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of interconnecting plays – Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden – which look at the events of one family weekend from different viewpoints. Each play can be enjoyed as a single performance or seen as one event in any sequence, either over different days or on trilogy days.

The news comes as Ayckbourn's new play The Divide premieres at the Edinburgh Festival before transferring to the Old Vic this autumn.

Living Together – The Norman Conquests runs from 18 September to 28 October.