The Norman Conquests

Alan Ayckbourn’s comic masterpieces, The Norman Conquests, come to London for the first time in 34 years and will be
presented in The Old Vic’s specially transformed auditorium, which will recreate the intimate ‘theatre-in-the-round’ space that the
plays were originally written for. Matthew Warchus directs.

Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden are ingeniously structured to allow each play to be enjoyed
independently or as a trilogy in any combination. Together, they create a fascinating, hilarious puzzle which weaves a masterful web of
interconnecting secrets and desires. With his inimitable wit and compassion, Ayckbourn reveals the frustration and disappointment which bubble beneath the surface of a family’s relationships and brings to light their thoughts on sex, marriage, love and loneliness.

The action of each play takes place simultaneously and follows the same six characters in the same English country house from Saturday evening to Monday morning. Believing it his mission in life to make women happy by showering them with love, Norman makes the most of every opportunity to seduce his sister-in-law Annie, charm his brother-in-law’s wife Sarah and woo his wife Ruth during a disastrous weekend of squabbling, eating, drinking and fondling.