A-LISTS theatre
THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
THREESOME: A UNIQUE
CYGNET THEATRE PRESENTS THREE PLAYS, SIX ACTORS, ONE WILD WEEKEND!
By Randy Hope
Threesomes offer a unique experience. While they are oftentimes difficult to pull off, if properly directed they can certainly be a lot of fun and rewarding for everybody involved. Cygnet Theatre is proving just that, as it presents a threesome unlike any other with its produc- tion of The Norman Conquests. This trilogy is made up of three sepa- rate plays—Table Manners, Round and Round the Garden and Living Together, which feature six actors and if seen in its entirety makes for a wild experience about the events surrounding one weekend.
“To see these three plays running in repertoire is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,”
said actor Albert Dayan, who plays the womanizing lead character of the plays, Nor- man. “It’s something that hasn’t been done in San Diego since the late 1970s,” he said. The British farce, written by Alan Ayckboum in 1973, depicts the same six characters
over the same weekend in a different part of a house, with Table Manners set in the dining room, Living Together in the living room, and Round and Round the Garden in the garden.
“Each play is self-contained, and they can be watched in any order,” Dayan explained, noting each is at times wildly comic, and at other times poignant in their portrayals of the relationships between the six more or less unhappy characters—Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth’s sister Annie, and Tom, Annie’s next- door neighbor. The storyline of the British farce is something everyone can likely relate to, according
to the actor. “The family is at a point in their lives when they are looking around and realizing life
hasn’t been all that it could have been. They hope to make their lives brighter and more fulfilling.” During that pursuit, there are many missteps for Dayan’s character Norman, which
make for the most interesting of circumstances, he explained. “Norman is somebody who makes a lot of terrible, terrible decisions in the name of
making other people happy. He truly just wants to please whoever is in front of him at the time and make them happy at that particular moment,” he explained, noting this proves to be somewhat difficult and along the way he forgets about himself and his own happiness. The actor said that while audience members would certainly find seeing all three
plays rewarding, it’s not necessary. “The author brilliantly wrote them so you can see each one by itself, but there is an advantage to seeing all three plays, as each one al- lows some insight in to the characters. They fit together like a puzzle, but you certainly don’t have to have every single piece of the puzzle to understand the bigger picture. It, however, certainly helps to see it most clearly.” “It’s exciting as an actor because this provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do
three shows in repertoire that bring into account different aspects allowing the actors the opportunity to entirely flush the character out,” he explained. Still, taking on such a feat can also prove to be difficult.
Albert Dayan as Norman in The Norman Conquests: Table Manners Photography by Luke Olson.
“Sometimes it’s hard to remember which play you’re in and can be quite confusing,”
the actor admitted. “In one production the exit to the kitchen may be on the right, where in the other production the exit to the kitchen is on the left. Another fun part of the puzzle is that some of the scenes overlap and on several occasions a character’s exit from one play corresponds with an entrance in another.” On October 20, Cygnet is presenting an evening tailor-made for LGBT theatre lovers
with “Out Night at Cygnet.” This fun event will include a pre-show mixer offering guests delicious cocktails and appetizers, followed by a special performance of The Norman Conquests: Table Manners. Everyone is welcome to this free event with your purchase of a ticket to the show. Special admission prices are available to those who see multiple plays in the trilogy, while lunch and dinner packages are available at Old Town restaurants during the run.
The Norman Conquests runs through Sunday, November 7, at Cygnet’s Old
Town Theatre located at 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town San Diego. Tickets range from $22 to $49 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 619.337.1525 or by visiting
cygnettheatre.com.
18
RAGE monthly | OCTOBER 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92