NORMAN’S NEWS SEE ALL THREE PLAYS FOR £30! ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN TABLE MANNERS LIVING TOGETHER
THE FESTIVAL THEATRE AS YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE! TIPS ON HOW TO SAVE MONEY WITH TICKETS FROM
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ALL THIS AND MORE AT
‘TO WRITE ONE BRILLIANT COMEDY IS A FEAT. TO WRITE THREE IN A ROW IS A TOUR DE FORCE’ DAILY TELEGRAPH SEPTEMBER 2017 ISSUE
NORMAN’S NEWS SEPTEMBER ISSUE FEATURE
Meet the Cast Take a sneak peek in the rehearsal room as the cast take on three plays!
Welcome to this “collectors’ edition” newsletter devoted to the Festival Theatre’s final productions of Festival 2017, Alan Ayckbourn’s brilliantly funny masterpiece The Norman Conquests. Some of you may remember the impact this ingenious trilogy had when it premiered in 1974, with a cast then on the cusp of fame including Michael Gambon, Felicity Kendal, Tom Courtenay and Penelope Keith. Greeted with rapturous applause and a prolonged West End run as well as a TV adaptation, the only reason The Norman Conquests hasn’t been seen very much since then is the sheer scale of the undertaking required to put on not one, but three plays. So we urge you not to miss this chance to relish anew Ayckbourn’s dizzying, delightful and uproarious plays. Each of them can be enjoyed on its own, or in any sequence; though our special trilogy days are already proving particularly popular. This new production features a crack cast of comic actors who’ve already made their mark on stage and screen (meet them all on pages 3 and 4). It is directed by Blanche McIntyre, one of the UK’s brightest and most versatile young directors; we’re delighted she is making her debut at Chichester. To add to the anticipation, for the very first time in its history, the Festival Theatre is being transformed “into the round”. In the capable and imaginative hands of designer Simon Higlett, a bank of seating on what is normally the rear part of stage will give you a unique opportunity to follow the action from all sides. Read on to discover more about this much-anticipated show. We look forward to seeing you at the all-conquering Norman Conquests.
INTERVIEW WITH
Simon Higlett The Norman Conquests designer on turning CFT into the round
YOUR VISIT
Experience the Festival Theatre ‘In-The-Round’ for the very first time NEW SEATING TRILOGY DAYS DINING EVENTS
DIARY
Book Now!
BOOK NOW! DIARY SEP Mon 18 Tue 19 Wed 20 Thu 21 Fri 22 Sat 23 Sun 24 Mon 25 Tue 26 Wed 27 Thu 28 Fri 29 Sat 30
Plan your visit to the CFT with dates for your Diary
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Trilogy Days Audio Described
Table Manners Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Living Together Living Together
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Round and Round Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
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Round and Round Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
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Table Manners Living Together Living Together Table Manners Round and Round
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Round and Round Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners
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Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round Round and Round
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Round and Round Living Together
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Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners
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Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
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THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
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18 September – 28 October
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TICKETS Previews & Press Night from £10 (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 September & 3 October) Other performances from £15 (discounts and concessions available) Prices are subject to change
For more info and T&Cs visit cft.org.uk/prologue
cft.org.uk 01243 781312
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LP LP LP
TICKETS FROM
10
£
C C C
P Preview PN Press Night LP Last Night C Captioned Performance S Signed Performance
Sponsored by Conquest Bespoke Furniture Irwin Mitchell Supported by The Norman Conquests Commissioning Circle Chichester Festival Theatre, Oaklands Park Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6AP
7 NORMAN’S NEWS
Artistic Director Daniel Evans
Executive Director Rachel Tackley
#TheNormanConquests ChichesterFestivalTheatre
1 NORMAN’S NEWS
ChichesterFT
ChichesterTheatre
ChichesterFT
THE NORMAN CONQUESTS TRILOGY An English country house. A summer weekend. A family gathering. Mayhem! Norman would like to seduce Annie, though he’s married to her sister, Ruth. He’s also got his eye on Sarah, though she’s married to Reg – who is Annie and Ruth’s brother. Tom, from next door, isn’t married to anyone: though he too nurses secret hopes beneath his stoical surface.
ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN ‘Where’s the romance? Where’s the romance gone?’ Saturday. 5.30pm. The garden. Which isn’t the only thing that’s looking wild and very, very tangled.
TABLE MANNERS
‘Is this lettuce leaf all for me? I can hardly believe my good fortune.’ Saturday. 6pm. The dining room. Where no-one is looking forward to Annie’s limp salad, or her mother’s home-made parsnip wine.
LIVING TOGETHER
‘Won’t someone play with me, please?’ Saturday. 6.30pm. The sitting room. With a wind-up gramophone, a pouffe, magazines, and a very, very inviting fur rug.
MON 18 SEPTEMBER – SAT 28 OCTOBER
FEATURE
Cast Meet the
Pictured from left to right HATTIE LADBURY (Chichester Festival Theatre’s Running Wild ) as Ruth TRYSTAN GRAVELLE (Victor Colleano in Mr Selfridge) as Norman JEMIMA ROOPER (Rachel Crabbe in the original cast of One Man, Two Guvnors ) as Annie JOHN HOLLINGWORTH (Captain Henshawe in Poldark) as Tom SARAH HADLAND (Stevie in Miranda) as Sarah JONATHAN BROADBENT (Guy in My Night With Reg, West End) as Reg
Photography by Manuel Harlan
Below: Rehearsal photos featuring the cast and Director BLANCHE McINTYRE
3 NORMAN’S NEWS
Take a look into rehearsals of The Norman Conquests with Director Blanche McIntyre and the cast at cft.org.uk
NORMAN’S NEWS 4
INTERVIEW WITH
Simon Higlett When Alan Ayckbourn’s hilarious trilogy of plays The Norman Conquests opens at Chichester Festival Theatre on 18 September, it will be the first time a production has been staged ‘in-the-round’ in the Theatre’s 50-year history, allowing audiences to see the action from all sides. We caught up with designer Simon Higlett to see how he will be adapting the Festival Theatre stage.
the existing seats to create a new bank of Terrace Seating on what would normally be the rear part of the stage – so the seats all match and it looks like part of the original auditorium.
But despite the lack of physical walls, a sense of reality is still important. I googled ‘Victorian rectories for sale’ and based the design on a real house, so the footprints of the
“It’s all about the interaction of the characters and it’s very funny”
“I’ve done 10 years of work at Chichester, on and off. It’s a fantastic space to work in – even though it’s not really designed for scenery! It’s a big epic space and all it really needs is an actor in the middle of the stage. The Norman Conquests are set in a run-down Victorian rectory – a living room, a dining room and a garden. When they were first done, at Alan Ayckbourn’s own theatre in Scarborough, it was in-theround. So I thought, oh that’s the obvious thing to do. I’m a huge fan of in-the-round, because it makes you design the play rather than the set, if that makes sense. The director, Blanche McIntyre, was up for the idea, and Daniel Evans and Rachel Tackley, Chichester’s Artistic and Executive Directors, were persuaded relatively quickly too. But then you have to work out how you do it logistically in an auditorium that’s never been set up that way before. We’re removing the back row of 5 NORMAN’S NEWS
The other advantage is that the rooms can be the right size and I don’t have to create walls. It’s such a beautifully written piece; you want to concentrate on the story and the characters without having to think what the wallpaper looks like. It’s all about the interaction of the characters and it’s very funny.
rooms are correct. We’re still setting it in the 1970s, but the house has been in the family for ages so the furniture has a Victorian look to it. None of the characters are very fashionable – except maybe Ruth, Norman’s wife – so there won’t be lots of flares and platform shoes.
In-the-round staging places specific demands on the furniture. It has to have low backs: chaises, pouffes, ottomans. You can’t have a wing chair or an ordinary sideboard because it’s too high and will block the view; there’s a maximum height of about 60cm for a piece of furniture. Chair backs must be seethrough. We audition bits of furniture! Buy them and try them, but until you get them on the stage, you might not know if they will work. We do a lot of reducing the heights of legs on furniture and building up cushions. It’s hard work but good fun”.
Watch Simon Higlett talking about how CFT is being adapted into the round at cft.org.uk
YOUR VISIT
Experience the Festival Theatre ‘in-the-round’ for the very first time Each play can be enjoyed as a single performance or seen as one event in any sequence, either over different days or on one day.
TRILOGY DAYS
Get the full experience by seeing all three comedies on our trilogy days on 30 September, 3, 7, 14, 17, 25 and 28 October. Book the same number of tickets for Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden, and save up to £24.
SEE ALL THREE PRODUCTIONS FOR £30
During previews and press night there are £10 tickets available, so you can see all three productions for £30.
For all 3 productions £60
£87
EVENTS
Why not combine your visit with one of our Events? PRE-SHOW TALK 2 October, 5.45pm Hear from director Blanche McIntyre in conversation with CFT biographer Kate Mosse. FREE but booking is essential. POST-SHOW TALK 16 October Stay in your seat after the performance of Table Manners to ask questions, meet the company and learn more about the production. FREE
£99
BOOK NOW FOR THE TERRACE SEATING
THEATRE DAY 18 October, 11am Join the creative team and technical crew of The Norman Conquests for 90 minutes of insight, demonstration and discussion on the making of the productions. Combine your Theatre Day ticket with the matinee performance of Round and Round the Garden for an immersive day at the Theatre.
Enjoy a unique view of The Norman Conquests from the new Terrace Seating. Situated in what is normally the rear part of the stage the Terrace Seats allow you to see the plays and the Festival Theatre from a new perspective.
DINING
TWO-COURSE LUNCH 1pm Chargrilled Chicken Caesar Salad or Sun-blushed Tomato Galette Blueberry Cheesecake or Fruit Kebabs Tea or Coffee £18
BREAKFAST 9-10am Eggs Benedict, Eggs Royale or Eggs Florentine Tea or Coffee / Orange Juice £7
TWO-COURSE DINNER 6pm Minute Sirloin Steak, Skin on Fries, Grilled Mushroom, Slow-roasted Tomato, Watercress or Aubergine, Butternut Tikka Curry, Coriander Rice Toffee Popcorn Sundae or Blood Orange Posset £20
Turn your trilogy day into a fabulous theatre and dining experience by enjoying breakfast, lunch and dinner in our relaxing Minerva Bar & Grill. You can book one or two meals, or all three for £41.
NORMAN’S NEWS 6
BOOK NOW! DIARY SEP Mon 18 Tue 19 Wed 20 Thu 21 Fri 22 Sat 23 Sun 24 Mon 25 Tue 26 Wed 27 Thu 28 Fri 29 Sat 30
OCT Sun 1 Mon 2 Tue 3
Wed 4 Thu 5 Fri 6 Sat 7
Sun 8 Mon 9 Tue 10 Wed 11 Thu 12 Fri 13 Sat 14
Sun 15 Mon 16 Tue 17
Wed 18 Thu 19 Fri 20 Sat 21 Sun 22 Mon 23 Tue 24 Wed 25
Thu 26 Fri 27 Sat 28
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Table Manners Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Living Together Living Together
7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm
P P P P P P
Round and Round Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm
P P P
Round and Round Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.00pm
Table Manners Living Together Living Together Table Manners Round and Round
7.30pm 7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm
Round and Round Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners
7.30pm 7.30pm 2.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm
Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round Round and Round
7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm 2.30pm
Round and Round Living Together
2.30pm 7.30pm
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Round and Round Round and Round Living Together Table Manners
7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm
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Table Manners Table Manners Living Together Round and Round
7.30pm 11.00am 3.00pm 7.30pm
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THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
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18 September – 28 October
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TICKETS Previews & Press Night from £10 (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 September & 3 October) Other performances from £15 (discounts and concessions available) Prices are subject to change
10
£
LP LP LP
For more info and T&Cs visit cft.org.uk/prologue
cft.org.uk 01243 781312 C C C
Trilogy Days P Preview PN Press Night LP Last Night Audio Described C Captioned Performance S Signed Performance
7 NORMAN’S NEWS
TICKETS FROM
Sponsored by Conquest Bespoke Furniture Irwin Mitchell Supported by The Norman Conquests Commissioning Circle Chichester Festival Theatre, Oaklands Park Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6AP