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This page contains articles on The Norman
Conquests by authors other than Alan Ayckbourn. The articles are the
copyright of the author and should not be reproduced without permission.
Another
Conquest
By
Simon Murgatroyd
This article was commissioned by the Friends of the Stephen Joseph
Theatre for its Newsround magazine and was published following The
Norman Conquests acclaimed revival at the New Vic, London, in 2008.
“I
don’t think taking on The Norman Conquests is not a risk. It’s
three different plays, which means it’s expensive. There are risks... So
we’re not playing it safe.”
Kevin
Spacey, 2006
9 May
2006.
Three
years after Alan Ayckbourn’s self-imposed moratorium on productions of
his plays in the West End and the chances of seeing another major
Ayckbourn production in London in the immediate future seem bleak.
Then
without prelude or warning, Kevin Spacey, artistic director of The Old
Vic announces his plans for the future: a pantomime by Stephen Fry, a
collaboration with Trevor Nunn, two new plays and a revival of The
Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn.
Already
the target of considerable vitriol following his controversial
appointment at The Old Vic in 2003, Spacey’s announcement comes in the
aftermath of the critically mauled flop Resurrection Blues and a
commercial decision to pull the show early leaving the theatre dark. To
some observers, the decision to stage Ayckbourn is an admission of
defeat; pandering to audiences. But as Spacey rightly asserts, there is
nothing safe about staging a trilogy of plays – no matter by whom – and
The Norman Conquests has never been an easy production to mount….
The
Norman Conquests
originally came about almost by accident. In the aftermath of the
premiere of Absurd Person Singular, a local nespaper
asked Alan what was coming next. His slightly flippant reply was
possibly a trilogy. When this was later printed, Alan’s half-serious
idea became a tangible challenge and in a white heat of activity, he
wrote it over two weeks in 1973. That summer, the trilogy enjoyed
considerable success at The Library Theatre, Scarborough.
At
which point, Alan put the plays into a drawer.
He had
no illusions. The chances of a West End producer taking on a trilogy
were minimal. True, Absurd Person Singular had opened in the West
End in 1973 to rave reviews and producers were interested in the next
Ayckbourn ‘hit’, but a trilogy?
Fending
off suggestions that he release one, possibly two, of the plays, Alan’s
interest was only sparked when it was suggested the trilogy be mounted
in a fringe theatre where - if successful - it might then be picked up
for the West End. It was still an enormous risk with no guarantee of
success for, as its director Eric Thompson pointed out: “'Do
you realise we could be the first people in history with three flops in
a row, because if they don't like one, they sure as hell aren't going to
like the others!'"
The production was,
of course, an enormous success, far more so than anyone could have
anticipated and the trilogy transferred to the Globe Theatre winning
both the Evening Standard and Plays And Players awards for Best Play. It
also led Alan in 1975 to have a record-breaking five plays running
simultaneously in the West End with the trilogy, Absurd Person
Singular and Absent Friends.
But it was by no
means ever a safe bet.
Back in the present
day and almost two years had passed without sign of The Norman
Conquests at The Old Vic; conveniently forgotten? Too much of a
risk? Or just waiting for the right moment?
In the meantime, the
West End moratorium had been broken by Alan Strachan’s critical and
commercially successful revival of Absurd Person Singular at the
Garrick Theatre during the latter part of 2007. Rumours quickly spread
on the theatre grapevine The Norman Conquests was now being
fast-tracked at The Old Vic because of Absurd’s success.
Confirmation of this
was broken exclusively by the Evening Standard with an announcement
practically two years to the day after the initial announcement: The
Norman Conquests would be revived in September 2008 for a three
month run, directed by Matthew Warchus and – the real surprise – it
would be directed in the round.
If the original
suggestion of mounting the trilogy had been a risk, then transforming
one of London’s most famous venues into a theatre in the round raised
the stakes considerably.
The
significance of the decision to produce The Norman Conquests in
the round is not easy to ignore. For the first time, an Ayckbourn work
would be performed as intended in a major London theatre and whether
successful or not, the decision meant The Old Vic production was at the
very least going to attract attention.
The
decision to produce the trilogy in the round at The Old Vic had largely
been motivated by its director Matthew Warchus. Appointed as an Artistic
Associate at The Old Vic at the same time as The Norman Conquests
was announced, Matthew is a highly acclaimed and award winning director
who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre,
English National Opera and the Royal Opera House as well as extensively
in the West End. None of which easily explains why he wanted to revive
The Norman Conquests or was so passionate it should be staged in
the round.
This,
it transpired, was due to the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round.
Matthew had visited Scarborough both as a student and whilst a director
at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in the early ‘90s and the theatre had
had an impact on him:
“I have always been excited by the magical effect that
'in-the-round' has on audiences, performers and design. Seeing Ayckbourn
performed in this setting, compared to a conventional proscenium arch,
can I think be revelatory.” His passion to direct the trilogy in the
round, which might have been dismissed as a pipe-dream by some, was
embraced by Kevin Spacey. Making it a reality was another matter.
The most obvious
problem was financing such an ambitious and costly scheme. Sponsorship
came from Michael and Dorothy Hintze, two passionate theatre supporters
whose hedge fund CQS and their charity the Hintze Family Charitable
Foundation financed the change of The Old Vic auditorium into The CQS
Space. The undertaking was vast and posed a considerable technical and
architectural challenge – with even Alan Ayckbourn offering advice on
the design of the stage. The conversion began by creating an entirely
new floor on a level with the existing stage, onto which everything
would be built. Over five weeks, most of the seats were taken up and
moved, the boxes were stripped, the theatre’s famed chandelier moved,
new banks of seating – both stalls and circle - built and an entirely
new lighting rig designed and raised. Perhaps more breath-taking was
that all this could be taken down and stored for future productions in
the round; which added to both the challenge and the cost.
According to The Old
Vic, the transformation needed more than 250 sheets of plywood, 150
litres of grey paint, 25,672 screws and 5,000 bolts, 2.7km of stick
timber, 17 tonnes of steel, 1,666 LED lights, 3,267m of cable and 960
square metres of carpet. The theatre estimates at least 400 litres of
coffee and 300 bacon butties were consumed.
A lot of screws,
steel and wood, but surprisingly few butties – all things considered.
In the rehearsal
room, Matthew Warchus was working with a cast that as of May was not
complete. There had apparently been difficulties in assembling a top
calibre cast willing to commit for five months to such a large project.
When the project was announced only Stephen Mangan (Norman), Jessica
Hynes (Annie), Amelia Bulmore (Ruth) and Paul Ritter (Reg) were
confirmed; Amanda Root (Sarah) and Ben Miles (Tom) would be relatively
late additions. The decision to find the right actors though would pay
dividends. Matthew Warchus knew he had to assemble an ensemble of strong
actors for the trilogy to work and eschewed stars for relatively unknown
actors to create this. The play was the ‘name’, not an unsuitable star.
The Norman Conquests
opened at The Old Vic on 11 September 2008 with the press day scheduled
for October 6. Initially each of the three plays – Table Manners,
Living Together and Round And Round The Garden – were
produced for three consecutive performances and then two consecutive
performances, before going into full repertory. The schedule was
designed to incorporate six ‘trilogy days’ where all three plays could
be seen in the space of one day and six ‘trilogy weekends’ where the
plays could be seen over a Friday and Saturday.
Surprisingly, there
was little early word on the trilogy; the online theatre blogs which
often competed to be the first to discuss the comparative failings and,
occasionally, successes of the latest productions barely picking up on
the trilogy. The print media showed a healthy interest but nothing
overwhelming.
All this would change
very quickly.
On 6 October, the
months of hard work coalesced into three performances at 11am, 3pm and
7pm. The major critics were in force, Kevin Spacey a very visible
presence throughout the day and a contingent from Scarborough: Alan and
both Lady Ayckbourns, his sons, several people from the Stephen Joseph
Theatre and judging by the SJT carrier bags, several of the SJT Friends.
The theatre was revealed as an astonishing mix of old and new, an in the
round theatre space fitting snugly into the auditorium of the former
home of the National Theatre, so closely associated with Laurence
Olivier. The most surprising sight was the equivalent of a curtain;
nestled just above the entire stage, a model of the village with Annie’s
house at the centre. As the lights went down, this was flown upwards and
a clock projected on to the stage showing the passage of time between
each scene; a very different approach to the round than one seen at the
Stephen Joseph Theatre. From then on in, though, the production could
have been every inch a Scarborough one. The simple set, clever lighting,
ensemble cast and assured direction all pointing to the fact this was
arguably one of the most accomplished non-Ayckbourn productions of his
plays to have been seen in London.
A view shared as a
standing ovation for the cast took place at the climax of Round And
Round The Garden, which was extended to Alan Ayckbourn, brought on
stage by Kevin Spacey. Surrounded by more than 1,000 people. It was an
emotional and very much deserved tribute on a very public stage –
slightly marred by Kevin Spacey knocking Alan over in his enthusiasm to
embrace the playwright, which in retrospect somehow seems appropriately
Ayckbournian.
The audience loved
it, but what would the critics make of the revival?
The Norman Conquests
had, in 1974, received great reviews and had shone a spotlight on a cast
of – with the exception of Tom Courtenay – relative newcomers such as
Michael Gambon, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and – in the Greenwich
production – Penelope Wilton. Great as these reviews were, they were
about to be eclipsed.
The Times, Sunday
Telegraph, Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Time Out awarded The Old Vic’s
production five star reviews. The Sunday Telegraph declaring it “one of
the all time great theatre events” with The Independent writing: “It’s
heaven in triplicate.” Michael Billington, veteran Ayckbourn critic and
writer, commended a production that stayed true not only to the author’s
intentions, but brought to the fore what would become most closely
associated with the author’s subsequent plays: “However much we laugh,
the plays actually deal with loneliness, frustration, familial tensions
and thwarted lust.”
With praise for the
cast, direction, the round staging and The Old Vic’s commitment to
presenting the play in the best possible way, the trilogy won arguably
one of the best set of reviews of Alan Ayckbourn’s career. The accolades
continued to come in weeks after the opening with The Observer declaring
it – six weeks after the press day – “a theatrical event of
international importance.”
Perhaps over-egging
the pudding slightly, but a welcome plaudit.
The Norman Conquests
ended on 20 December 2008 at The Old Vic, a risk turned good. In the
future, there will perhaps be those who might cynically note there was
little risk in staging one of Alan Ayckbourn’s most famous works. But
given the demands of staging three plays and the standards The Old Vic
set itself – not to mention an economic climate that no-one could have
foreseen striking as the plays opened – this would be to do a disservice
to all involved and the belief and passion in reviving the trilogy in
London for the first time in 34 years.
And what of its
effect? How things change in so relatively little time. Kevin Spacey,
who was at the sharp end of the stick when the project was announced,
has recently been lauded as beginning a “new golden age in theatre” and
his decision to stage The Norman Conquests as a “clever and imaginative
coup.” At the prestigious Evening Standard Awards, Spacey was given a
special award for his work, one of the reasons given being the staging
of The Norman Conquests. While the theatre award season has not
yet begun, as of writing, the trilogy is up for five What’s On Stage
2009 Awards including the prestigious AKA Theatre Event Of The Year.
By December, it was
reported producers were hoping to raise $2m to transfer the plays to
Broadway and The Old Vic also announced it would follow the trilogy with
two more plays in The CQS Space, keeping the round for another several
months. Its reception practically guarantees the round will return to
The Old Vic after that.
And what of Alan
Ayckbourn? On the cusp of his 70th birthday and the 50th
anniversary of his first play, The Square Cat, a production was
staged and received in London with all deserved plaudits. Alan
Ayckbourn’s plays are back in the London theatre-going consciousness
again and receiving attention that has not previously been seen since
his tenure at the National Theatre in 1987. It has led to a deserved
West End production of Alan’s exceptional revival of Woman In Mind
with Janie Dee as Susan and, apparently, there is much interest in
producing the next Ayckbourn play for the West End; although the
criteria has changed. The Norman Conquests has set the bar high
and Alan is determined only proposals that can reach or surpass that bar
will be even considered. Which is how it should be.
It seems only apt
that as celebrations begin in this anniversary year, it is Alan’s most
famous work that has once again conquered the West End.
Copyright: Simon Murgatroyd 2009
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