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Post by wickedgrin on Oct 4, 2017 13:59:12 GMT
Couldn't find a thread for this so I created one. If there is one - mods feel free to merge (and beat me on the bottom with a Woman's Weekly!)
Enjoyed the day in Chichester watching these plays.
Excellent ensemble cast - all very good. A splendid set.
The production mounted in the round for the first time at Chichester, surprisingly, as the auditorium suited this configuration. The extra seats this generated though meant that there were plenty of empty seats throughout the theatre for all three performances - especially at the 11.00am performance!
The three plays Table Manners, Living Together, Round and Round the Garden benefit from being seen together as it shows the same weekend from different locations and reveals depths to the characters that a viewing of one play would not necessarily do.
If anyone can only manage one of the plays I think probably Table Manners is the strongest in isolation with Living Together being the weakest.
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 15, 2017 19:03:47 GMT
Saw the first 2 on Thursday and seeing Round and Round the garden on Saturday, surprising very little buzz about this though.
One observation I did make though is that when I saw Sweet Bird of Youth in the carnvous Festival Theatre, I felt the production go swallowed by the house size, so fast forward to The triptych Norman Conquests and this production is done in the same theatre, but this time in the round with terrace seating added and for me this was a stroke of genius, not only do they add to their box office potential, it also made the theatre feel intimate.
Not going to comment too much as haven't seen the 3rd part, but would say Alan Aychbourne is an absolute master of observing Britishness and their habits good and bad.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 16, 2017 3:37:35 GMT
Am going to one of the trilogy days and am looking forward both to the plays and to the trip to Chichester. The reviews have raised my expectations - even some hardened critics and bloggers who say they don't normally like Ayckbourn have fallen for this - and provided the trains behave, there should even be less of a last-minute dash back to the station than usual due to the shorter running times, which would be a welcome relief.
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Post by wickedgrin on Oct 16, 2017 10:12:17 GMT
I think the in the round configuration should be used again at Chichester - I thought it worked very well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 18:14:52 GMT
The Norman Conquests was one of the first things I saw in the theatre, a touring production back in the early-mid 80s and I remember the plays very fondly. I'd love to see these again.
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 22, 2017 15:54:58 GMT
Saw the final of the Triptich yesterday afternoon and now can see why it doesn't matter what order you see this in, always curious why and now I know.
As I said before Ayckbourn is a master of observing English idiosyncrasies and in turn, makes great comedic use of it. All 3 plays acted well acted from the dopey Vet to the bed hopping (actually there wasn't a bedroom play, in these three) Norman, the ladies wasn't ladies weren't slouches and have to say the case of 6 were good in there individual way. The Plays itself were amusing and really they were 12 couplets, spread over 3 plays.
Living Togetther****
Table Manners***
Round and Round the garden****
Loved the way the plays interweaved together, this is part of the genius of Ayckbourn and he did the same with Kitchen and Garden (what I saw this year at The Watermill, Newbury. Very apt this is done at Chicheater.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 22, 2017 16:45:13 GMT
Did the three play day last weekend, agree the way the plays are entwined is superbly structured, and as the day (weekend) progresses you fill in the gaps and the play really comes alive.
Can see how each play can stand on its own, but the play(s) can only be really appreciated when you see all three and preferably in quick succession when the other plays are still fresh in your mind.
My first visit to Chichester drawn by McKellen’s Lear, now firmly on my Theatre radar and looking forward to see what next year brings.
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Post by theatremad on Oct 27, 2017 20:42:41 GMT
Down in Chichester and looking forward to seeing all 3 in their final performances tomorrow, and I'm in the Terrace Seating so very happy.
Saw these at the Birmingham Rep some years back and loved them, plus saw House/Garden at Newbury this year and at The Divide next year so bit of a bumper Ayckbourn epic year.
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Post by alicechallice on Oct 27, 2017 21:44:55 GMT
Down in Chichester and looking forward to seeing all 3 in their final performances tomorrow, and I'm in the Terrace Seating so very happy. Saw these at the Birmingham Rep some years back and loved them, plus saw House/Garden at Newbury this year and at The Divide next year so bit of a bumper Ayckbourn epic year. Please wear a carnation in your buttonhole so we can spot you. This is Chichester after all! |
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Post by theatremad on Oct 27, 2017 22:23:37 GMT
Down in Chichester and looking forward to seeing all 3 in their final performances tomorrow, and I'm in the Terrace Seating so very happy. Saw these at the Birmingham Rep some years back and loved them, plus saw House/Garden at Newbury this year and at The Divide next year so bit of a bumper Ayckbourn epic year. Please wear a carnation in your buttonhole so we can spot you. This is Chichester after all!  , won't manage the Carnation but am in AA12 for Table Manners, AA16 for Living Together and BB16 for Round and Round. |
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Post by theatremad on Oct 29, 2017 14:03:46 GMT
For all it's faults I loved this production, great cast and fab set. Forgotten how this is like one big jigsaw puzzle, and enjoyed hearing people who'd never seen it discovering the story as the plays progressed, and genuinely looking forward to the next piece slotting in. Though can be seen in any order, the last scene of Round and Round is too 'final' I think and would cause you to be backfilling the story from then on, bit too 'Betrayal' |
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Post by showgirl on Oct 29, 2017 15:38:03 GMT
I enjoyed the trilogy, the first time I'd seen any of the 3 plays - and probably also the last, as not only do they seem (inevitably) to be produced less frequently but they're probably not top of my Ayckbourn hit list. A huge amount must depend on the cast and direction but I think CFT did the plays justice.
It's probably impossible not to be influenced by the order in which you see the plays, but I liked the sequence used on trilogy day: Table Manners, Living Together and Round And Round The Garden, though I did find as the day went on that it was rather a case of the law of diminishing returns. I thought Table Manners was excellent in scene-setting terms and that theatremad is right in suggesting that Round And Round The Garden would probably be the least suitable with which to start.
Although I was rather wearying of the characters by the 3rd play and not hugely interested in seeing yet another permutation of the same events (plus struggling somewhat to stay awake, as usual by that time), it did contain what for me was the most hilarious, laugh-out-loud scene of all, which redeemed to some extent what I found the most uneven of the 3 parts.
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, won't manage the Carnation but am in AA12 for Table Manners, AA16 for Living Together and BB16 for Round and Round.