A: Is for the Art of Norman

Alan Ayckbourn's "Norman Conquests" is a trilogy of plays that chronicle Norman's conquest of the women in his life. Set over one weekend at a home in the English countryside. Each play takes place in a different locations around the house: the dining room in Table Manners, the living room in Living Together, and the garden in Round and Round the Garden. The ingenious result is that as plots unfold, something seemingly incidental in one play takes on a hysterical new context in the next.

Round and Round in the Garden, is perversely hysterical. In this production which oozes sexuality you understand why for the first time Norman is so damned appealing and why all the women fall for him. First staged in the early 1970s, I have seen four productions of this, so I was not really up for seeing another. It always seemed so over stylized and uptight, to me but, this revival makes you understand all the nuances. I could see it over and over again and still catch something new. These are neurotic middle-aged Brits in heat. Sarah (Amanda Root)is the busy buddy who needs to have control. Annie(Jessica Hynes), is desperately trying to have a dirty weekend which just keeps going wrong. Sarah husband, Reg (Paul Ritter), is hen tied and though he longs for more his wife will never allow it. Annie’s lethargic beau Tom (Ben Miles), the quiet local vet who’s been failing to court Annie for years is not the subject here. Norman (Stephen Mangan), is the maddening husband of Annie and Reg’s sister Ruth (Amelia Bullmore), the man of the hour who delightfully makes the audience adore him, as much as all the women. Matthew Warchus, deserved the Tony for best director for this production rather than God of Carnage as this is a delightful romp that makes you want to plunge into the absolute convulted world of Norman. Norman, is shaggy and charismatic, “a gigolo,” who lives to brighten the lives of the women of his family with a bit of romance. Mangan clearly gives one of the funniest performances of the year. Round and Round the Garden just keeps getting better. This production melts into your memory as one of the most delicious theatrical experiences of the decade. The comic high points even funnier in retrospect. This cast is superb, the set perfection and the direction sublime. Go see this before it closes July 26th or you will regret it and that is a F.A.C.T.