The Norman Conquests

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For the historical event, see Norman conquest of England.

The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour. The plays are at times wildly comic, and at times poignant in their portrayals of the relationships between six more or less unhappy characters.

Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house. Table Manners is set in the dining room, Living Together in the living room, and Round and Round the Garden in the garden. Each play is self-contained, and they may be watched in any order. Some of the scenes overlap, and on several occasions a character's exit from one play corresponds with an entrance in another. The plays were not written to be performed simultaneously, although Ayckbourn did achieve that some twenty-five years later in House & Garden.

The plays were first performed in Scarborough, before a season in London, with a cast that included Tom Courtenay as Norman, Penelope Keith as Sarah, Felicity Kendal as Annie, Michael Gambon as Tom, Bridget Turner as Ruth, and Mark Kingston as Reg. Keith and Kendal later starred together in the television situation comedy The Good Life to great acclaim, in roles arguably similar to their roles in Conquests. Penelope Keith reprised her role as Sarah in the televised version, filmed in 1978, starring Tom Conti as Norman, Penelope Wilton as Annie, Richard Briers as Reg, David Troughton as Tom and Fiona Walker as Ruth.

The first major London revival of The Norman Conquests was presented at The Old Vic Theatre in 2008 with Matthew Warchus directing a cast including Stephen Mangan as Norman, Jessica Hynes as Annie, Ben Miles as Tom, Amanda Root as Sarah, Paul Ritter as Reg and Amelia Bulmore as Ruth. The Old Vic auditorium was transformed to a theatre in the round, known as the CQS Space, especially for this production.

Broadway

The 2008 Old Vic production opened on Broadway with the London cast at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 7, 2009, official opening April 23, and scheduled closing on July 25, 2009. ^[1] ^[2]

The plays originally premiered on Broadway in 1975 for 69 performances at the Morosco Theatre, directed by Eric Thompson and featuring Richard Benjamin, Ken Howard, Barry Nelson, Estelle Parsons, Paula Prentiss, and Carole Shelley.

[edit] Awards and nominations

2009 Tony Awards^[3]

Best Revival of a Play (winner)
Best Direction of a Play- Matthew Warchus (nominated)
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play - Stephen Mangan and Paul Ritter (nominated)
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - Jessica Hynes and Amanda Root (nominated)
Best Scenic Design of a Play - Rob Howell (nominated)