THE NORMAN CONQUESTS Reviews- Page 2

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 4/23/09 at 11:43pm

You are doing yourself an injustice if you only see two of them, especially if Round and Round is the only one you have left, there is so much closure to a lot of the characters and relationships. Not to mention an insanely hilarious moment with Ruth and a lawn chair.

So I say, respectfully of course, don't listen to rOcKs.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/23/09 at 11:47pm

Aw, thanks, Chita!

Well, I mean, it's not like it's a TERRIBLE night out. It was enjoyable but significantly less enjoyable than TABLE MANNERS to me. I would still say go see it because these performers are just unbelievably good. I do agree with CyCo's comment though about seeing all three shows; even though I saw TABLE and ROUND, definitely go see ROUND especially if you saw the first two. It definitely ties (even just TABLE MANNERS in my case) everything up well.

I really can't wait to see LIVING TOGETHER soon I hope!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:11am

Did anyone besides Brantley have their "soul fractured?"
That's scarey, but these are great reviews and "Straight Plays"
are really rockin' and keeping Broadway exciting and alive!

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:39am

We certainly have had quite a few outstanding productions in the last few years, while I feel the musicals pale in comparison.

I feel only the plays are respecting the audience's intelligence.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 2:39am

Drunk Chita, you shouldn't listen to ANYONE's opinion on the individual parts. They're specifically tailored to have different elements that resonate/tickle.

Hell, ROUND AND ROUND was my favorite of the three.

[April Saul]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 7:49am

Do the marathon on a Saturday; it's the best!!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:00am

April, I'm contemplating going with those fantstic reviews. You suggested going on a Saturday for the entire cycle. What are the timings? Does the first one start at 11:00 a.m., the second one at 2:00 p.m and the last one at 8:00 p.m.? How much time between the first and second one? Thanks.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:20am

The marathon times were changed so that the first show starts at 11:30am. I believe the second starts at 3:30pm and the third at 8:00pm. This is a 100% must see event this season. Whenever anyone asks me what they should see this is always the first thing I suggest.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:53am

Daily News is a Rave

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2009/04/24/2009-04-24_the_norman_conquests_conquers_bway_with_laughter.html

Unbridled libido makes for uncontrollable laughter in "The Norman Conquests," now back on Broadway for the first time since 1975 in a gold-standard revival.

Alan Ayckbourn's ingenious play consists of three interlaced full-lengths: "Table Manners," "Living Together" and "Round and Round the Garden." The plays, which are running in rep, stand alone or as a trilogy.

The show, direct from London's Old Vic, is a real treat. Not just because of the sheer size, but because Ayckbourn's ability to crack you up is consistently on display - zinger after zinger, scene after scene, play after play.

Much of the success owes to Matthew Warchus ("God of Carnage," "Boeing-Boeing"), a director with a Midas touch for comedy who's steered a wonderful, well-oiled cast from across the pond. The six actors draw you irresistibly into their exploits.


Bergen Record is a Rave

http://www.northjersey.com/entertainment/stage/43605027.html

Last Saturday, I had an Alan Ayckbourn immersion. And it was one of the most hilarious days and nights I've ever spent in a theater.

The three full-length plays that make up the British writer's "Norman Conquests" trilogy were presented back-to-back-to-back (with breaks for lunch and dinner).

That meant I was in the Circle in the Square for around seven hours.

I wouldn't have missed a second. My only complaint is that the audience was in such a constant state of merriment that a line sometimes couldn't be heard.

The six-member British cast, which honed its ensemble performance in London, is brilliantly expressive.

All of this has been directed with genius-like imagination and resourcefulness by Matthew Warchus, who also staged the season's other comic highlight, "God of Carnage."

It's possible to see any one of the "Norman Conquests" plays and have a complete, and amusing, theater experience.

But to get the full impact ? and the trilogy's crucial point that perspective greatly influences how we perceive life ? you should see all three.



New York Magazine (in a diary of the marathon day) is a Rave

http://nymag.com/arts/theater/reviews/56265/

Props to Matthew Warchus, who's got his actors playing everything with absolute conviction and commitment - whether it's an uncomfortably realistic fight between Sarah and Reg or comically spluttering reactions to homemade dandelion wine.

...

Round and Round the Garden just keeps getting better. Is it the last play of the day because it's the funniest? Or is it the funniest because it's the last play of the day? My date, helpless with laughter, cannot answer my whispered query.

As Garden ends, I realize all three plays have already melted in my memory into one delicious theatrical experience?the longueur fading away, the comic high points even funnier in retrospect. Though all of my dates have been suitably entertained, I'm pretty glad I ran the marathon. "I just want to make you happy!" Norman tells his women throughout the trilogy. Bless his ridiculous heart, he did.

Updated On: 4/24/09 at 09:53 AM

[Barbara888]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 10:19am

Every single review i have seen is a total RAVE. I am so pleased. This will be the surprise hit of the season. Should sell out now ...

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 10:26am

It's no surprise.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 10:26am

The New York Post is positive with three out of four stars:

"A MERRY British sprite has been sprinkling magic dust all over Broad way. No, it's not Mary Poppins: It's Matthew Warchus. After last season's "Boeing-Boeing" and, more recently, "God of Carnage," the director's just spun comic gold out of another good-not-great play.

Warchus' main asset is his sense of the way timing and spatial relationships work together. He's like a chess master mapping his moves several turns in advance, a gift that comes in handy when tackling the intricately plotted "The Norman Conquests."

...


Whether it's Bullmore endowing the nearsighted Ruth with chicken-like twitches, Hynes awkwardly fumbling in an oversize cardigan, or Ritter reacting to foul homemade carrot wine, the cast (brought over from the Old Vic production) is never less than awe-inspiring.

Ayckbourn may have turned standard boulevard comedy inside-out in "The Norman Conquests," but this crack team stitched it back together with brio."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04242009/entertainment/theater/triumphant_conquests_165853.htm

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 10:43am

I bit the bullet and got tickets for the marathon on May 16. Were these the best reviews of the season, so far? I can't recall of any other getting the unanimous approval that this is getting -- I don't think The Sea Gull was liked by everyone and there were some caveats, albeit minor ones, about Joe Turner.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 10:44am

TheaterMania is a Rave:

""I think other people's marriages are invariably a source of amazement," Ruth (Amelia Bullmore) says during Living Together, one of three plays that make up Alan Ayckbourn's rollicking trilogy, The Norman Conquests, now at the Circle in the Square after an earlier run at London's Old Vic Theatre.

...

Each of the plays contains its particular delights. Reg, who thinks up board games, gets belly laughs in Living Together when he mocks chess by illustrating how knights and bishops move unrealistically. Tom's constant indecision is a running gag, and his worm-turning scene in Table Manners is particularly impressive. And the women's handling of the men -- and being manhandled sequentially by Norman, particularly in Round and Round the Garden -- is a sustained hoot. For all its clever writing, however, this triptych would not work as well without Matthew Warchus' assured direction or the performances of this superb, clockwork-working ensemble (of whom Mangan is first among equals.)

As to the question of whether all three plays need to be seen: it is possible just to see one or two and laugh to the point of aisle-rolling. But one certainly gains something from seeing the entire trilogy (and, in my opinion, seeing Table Manners, Living Together, and Round and Round the Garden in that order). But the important thing is just to go! "

http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/reviews/04-2009/the-norman-conquests_18715.html

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 11:12am

Wow, this is probably the best set of reviews of the season, this along with Hair.

[wonkit]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 11:41am

I have marathon tickets for May 16th - can't wait!

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:06pm

No Word of Mouth review for NORMAN?

[WestVillage]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 2:28pm

I am so giddy with excitement over these deserved raves! I've seen 2 of the 3 (table manners and garden), and am seeing Living Together tomorrow. Cannot wait.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 3:54pm

Time Out New York is a Rave.

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/theater/73911/theater-review-the-norman-conquests

I gleefully gobbled up Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of comedies - Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden - and was hungry for more.

In director Matthew Warchus's convulsively funny revival of these 1973 bad-sex romps (collectively called The Norman Conquests), you will find nearly inexhaustible stores of farcical pleasure, thanks to a visiting ensemble of top-shelf English thespians.

You would expect that such a gossamer premise (however cleverly threaded) would fray in two hours, much less three times that length, but Ayckbourn's tireless curiosity about who these people are, and what they'll do in different combinations over 40 hours, gives the whole assemblage the curious heft of lived reality. These characters never seem cardboard clowns; they continually surprise us with their foibles and vitality.

We all know that 2008-09 has been the Season of the Star: An unusually high number of marquee names - from Daniel Radcliffe to Jane Fonda - have scattered stardust across the boards, goosing box offices and earning unwarranted praise in some quarters. With the arrival of The Norman Conquests (hot on the heels of last week?s Mary Stuart), you can forget such slumming celebritude. The sextet that drives this unique treat offers the proverbial master class in meticulously crafted seriocomic performance. Here's hoping some of those big names take a night off from their shows to learn a trick or two.

Updated On: 4/24/09 at 03:54 PM

[hpeabody930]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 11:20pm

Wow.

If this doesn't up their box office, nothing will...