The Norman Conquests, theatre review: Hours of immaculately interwoven Ayckbourn

Seeing three full-length plays in one day can result in some degree of puzzlement. At the conclusion, for example, are we applauding the actors’ stamina levels, or our own? On the evidence of this impressive although not superlative revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s celebrated 1973 trilogy of immaculately interwoven dramas, it’s a mixture of the two.

Both they – an unflagging sextet - and we spend a lot of time and energy in and around a large dilapidated family home that plays host to two malfunctioning marriages and one non-starter of a relationship.

High-flying comedy and deep domestic melancholy, that unrivalled Ayckbourn cocktail, sit easily together in Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden (the viewing order is flexible, but be sure to see Garden last).

All the action, which in each play runs from Saturday evening to Monday morning, centres around an abortive illicit weekend in East Grinstead for lonely Annie (Jemima Rooper) and her errant brother-in-law Norman (Trystan Gravelle), an ‘emotional big-dipper’ of a man. Uptight Sarah (Sarah Hadland), married to henpecked Reg (Jonathan Broadbent), is certainly not going to let Annie enjoy any sex and fun, when she herself is so starved of both. Dithering vet Tom (John Hollingworth) knows how to deal with cats stuck up trees, but is flummoxed by the intricacies of human emotions. Potent homebrew wines cause confusion throughout.

As is only understandable in over six hours of drama, there are ebbs and flows of humour and engagement in Blanche McIntyre’s production which, in a first for Chichester, plays in the round thanks to a nifty bank of on-stage seating. The high point comes in Living Together when the consistently excellent Broadbent is allowed to spin comic gold from Reg’s fruitless sideline as the inventor of some super-convoluted board games.

Table Manners sees the ensemble take a while to warm up and fully cohere; for too long, everything is rather over-emphatic and over-egged. Norman’s remarkably resilient wife Ruth (Hattie Ladbury) might be acutely short-sighted without her glasses, but there’s a limit to the amount of frantic tapping and patting we require for this to be signalled. Ladbury does, however, make Ruth a rewarding slow-burn, as the most emotionally literate of the characters. Engaging, then, but not all-conquering.

Until Oct 28, Chichester Festival Theatre;cft.org.uk