'NORMAN CONQUESTS' ARE BACK ON STAGE
But the Sexual Inneundo No Longer Packs the
Punch
By V.I. Hambleton
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater
Weeks starting May 17, 2010
Vol.
12, No. 103
It had probably
been really
funny back in 1973.
Such was my
recent reaction to the dialogue in “Round and
Round the Garden”, now playing at ACT. Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy, “The
Norman
Conquests,” earned tributes such as “explosively hilarious” and
“uproarious”
when the three plays ran simultaneously in London and on Broadway in 1975. Now the humor provoked by the decade noted for what was called The Sexual
Revolution seems just plain silly.
There is no
real resolution to this story; the characters
are all tired out at the end, as was this reviewer.
Five
relatives and an old friend come together for a weekend at the family
home
where the mother still lives; she is an invalid and we don’t see her. Her caretaker, the youngest and unmarried
daughter, Annie (Delia MacDougall) is planning a weekend away, and the
others
will come to care for the mom in her absence.
Tom (Dan Hiatt) is a local
veterinarian
who harbors a romantic interest in Annie, but while he converses with
four-footed creatures freely, he is at a loss for words with the
two-footed
variety. The first relative to arrive is Norman (Manoel Felciano), her
brother-in-law. Actually Annie and
Norman plan to spend the weekend together, a secret plan.
Their conversation makes it clear that while
Annie looks forward to long walks and sea breezes, Norman looks forward to spending 2
days in
bed. Annie’s brother, Reg (Anthony
Fusco) who is good-natured but not very smart, and his wife Sarah
(Marcia
Pizzo) arrive. Sarah discovers Annie and
Norman’s plan, and talks Annie out of
going with
Norman,
pointing her toward Tom. Norman spends
the weekend
pursuing Annie and his sister-in-law Sarah as well.
The first act is slow and underwhelming, and
the second act picks up in pace and activity.
There are outbursts of temper and attempted coupling on the lawn.
Annie
and
Reg’s sister, Ruth (Rene Augesen) arrives when the second act curtain
goes
up. She is Norman’s wife, and the only character
that
sees the world as it is. She tries to
coach Tom in how to win Annie, but a misunderstanding follows, leading
to more
rolling about on the lawn.
Nonetheless there are admirable achievements
in this production. The garden set by
Ralph Funicello is remarkable and beautiful.
A credit noted in the program, “The trees in this production
were
provided by Friends of the Urban Forest.” suggests that the trees might
be real,
and indeed they looked it. Alexander V.
Nichols lighting was perfectly suited to scenes taking place in the
afternoon,
in nighttime, and in the morning. And
sound engineer Jake Rodriguez provided bird songs, a cat’s yowls, and
frothy
music. The performances by all cast
members were good, directed by Jophn Rando, with effective timing of
interactions between family
members. Manoel Felciano’s Norman seemed excessively animated
and bouncy to me (after all he is an
assistant librarian) but I find the character so unappealing that I may
not be
a fair judge.
“Round
and
Round the Garden” plays at American Conservatory Theater, San
Francisco, through May 23; 2 hours and 20
minutes with one 15 minute
intermission. For info: (415) 749-2228, or go online.
#
© V.I. Hambleton 2010
V.I. Hambleton is a regular theater reviewer for artssf.com.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)focus
on theater, dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into recordings by local artists, and a few departures into books (by
authors
of the region)as well.
#
Return to main menu