The Norman Conquests Broadway Reviews
"Annie, the comfortably radiant Jessica Hynes creates the most sympathetic character - the unmarried caregiver of her demanding, unseen mother, who just might run off with Norman, her sister's husband. " - Linda Winer
From News Day.com
From Time Out New York
"Alan Ayckbourn provides a triple dose of superb comedy in 'The Norman Conquests'"
Her spinster sister, Annie — the first in line for Norman-conquering — gets a positive, sympathetic depiction from Hynes. "I'll tell you what's wrong with her: She's a people-pleaser. She does that to the detriment of everything in her life. What I like about her is that she has got a good heart. She's not a mean, malicious person. She has actually tried to do the right thing her whole life. She has tried to make everybody happy really, all her life — to a degree, and she's left slightly nowhere."
With a dull suitor on her hands and an invalid mother always draining her from off-stage, she finds Norman's suggestion of running off to a hotel in a nearby village a very do-able thing, and she confesses this to her sister-in-law, Sarah — next in line for Norman-conquering — who vows not to be shocked but is and then partakes herself. " - Harry Haun
From Playbill.com
"Unrequited Lust, in Triplicate"
"Ruth, who is seriously nearsighted but refuses to wear her glasses, says testily to her husband: “I can see as well as you. It’s only people I sometimes can’t see very clearly.” This is a condition shared by all the characters in “The Norman Conquests.” But you, lucky theatergoer, will see them with 20-20 vision. That’s guaranteed by each of the plays. Go to all three, and you’ll be thinking you have Superman’s X-ray eyes." - Ben Brantley
From The New York Times
"The six actors -- Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter and Amanda Root -- could not be better, and Matthew Warchus (of “Boeing-Boeing” and “God of Carnage” fame) conclusively establishes himself as one of our era’s supreme farce directors. Production values are up to snuff, notably Rob Howell’s costumes and David Howe’s lighting, and the writing is consistently superb." John Simon
From bloomberg.com
"Matthew Warchus, who also directed “God of Carnage” and “Boeing-Boeing,” is truly a master when it comes to staging comedy. And in this absolutely hysterical in-the-round production with an impeccable cast, “The Norman Conquests” turns out to be one of the most rewarding theatrical experiences in an already overstuffed spring season on Broadway."
From New York Cirt Theatre Blog
"I've been piecing things together in my mind, fitting the various bits to fill in the picture, building a sort of overall view of things," says Tom near the end of nominal closer "Round and Round the Garden." While the dim-bulb vet may be several beats behind the rest of us, he effectively encapsulates the pleasure of unlocking Ayckbourn's intricate puzzle. It's like a Rubik's Cube with humor and heart." - David Rooney
From Variety
"Each of the plays contains its particular delights. Reg, who thinks up board games, gets belly laughs in Living Together when he mocks chess by illustrating how knights and bishops move unrealistically. Tom's constant indecision is a running gag, and his worm-turning scene in Table Manners is particularly impressive. And the women's handling of the men -- and being manhandled sequentially by Norman, particularly in Round and Round the Garden -- is a sustained hoot. For all its clever writing, however, this triptych would not work as well without Matthew Warchus' assured direction or the performances of this superb, clockwork-working ensemble (of whom Mangan is first among equals.)
As to the question of whether all three plays need to be seen: it is possible just to see one or two and laugh to the point of aisle-rolling. But one certainly gains something from seeing the entire trilogy (and, in my opinion, seeing Table Manners, Living Together, and Round and Round the Garden in that order). But the important thing is just to go!" - David Finkle
From theatermaina.com
"Seldom has a comedy crossed our shores that produced the kind of gut splitting laughter heard in Alan Ayckbourn's masterful "The Norman Conquests." I'd have to go back to the original "Noises Off" on Broadway to recall such a comically consummate production. It's three separate plays that can stand alone or be seen back to back. But I recommend seeing all three because it's the only way to appreciate the ingeniousness of the thing and it's three times the fun."
"And with the phenomenal British cast intact from the celebrated London production, we get an added bonus. It's as if they were born to the roles. Just watch how these incredible actors plumb every juicy nuance embedded in their characters. Stephen Mangan's manic rogue womanizer Norman; his wife, the cynically hardened Ruth played by Amelia Bullmore; her sister, the dowdy, unfulfilled Annie and hen-pecked brother Reg played by Jessica Hynes and Paul Ritter respectively; Reg's nagging, prudish wife Sarah played by Amanda Root; and their neighbor, the vacuous, vacant-eyed vet Tom in the person of Ben Miles."
- Roma Torre
From NY1
"Bottom Line: Brilliantly staged trilogy of hilarious British comedies seems poised to conquer Broadway." - Frank Scheck
From Hollywood Reporter
"Diary of a Marathon"
"10:15 p.m. As Garden ends, I realize all three plays have already melted in my memory into one delicious theatrical experience—the longueur fading away, the comic high points even funnier in retrospect. Though all of my dates have been suitably entertained, I’m pretty glad I ran the marathon. “I just want to make you happy!” Norman tells his women throughout the trilogy. Bless his ridiculous heart, he did." - Dan Kois
From New York Magazine
"The buoyant Stephen Mangan endows the potentially irritating Norman, whose id has never met his ego, with enough charm to explain why all three women are attracted to him. As the no-nonsense Ruth, Amelia Bullmore is sexy, smart, stiletto-sharp, and never funnier than when pretending she doesn't need her glasses. The captivating Jessica Hynes wisely underplays the little-girl-lost qualities in Annie while highlighting her feistiness. Ben Miles shows impeccable comic timing as Tom and happily humanizes what could be a stereotypical socially inept English eccentric. Paul Ritter is equal parts bluster and bonhomie as the childlike Reg, whose bewilderment at how his life has taken shape feels true and touching. First among equals is the terrific Amanda Root as the controlling, prudish Sarah. One only needs to see the way she strides across a room to know volumes about her, and when she too succumbs to Norman's overtures, it's both hilarious and heartbreaking." - Erik Haagensen
From Backstage
"The actors are similarly splendid and in tune with whatever their surroundings happen to be. The chronic physical and psychological weariness Hynes brings to her portrayal makes Annie the most sympathetic of those onstage. But Miles is a rollicking hoot as the pathetic Tom, and Ritter so resolutely businesslike as the straitlaced Reg that any deviation from the expected makes him a comic magnet. Root is perfectly mated with him: Her Sarah is a prudish prune just ripe for the plumping, prime to bloom into radiant abandon the instant she’s touched. Bullmore is ceaselessly amusing as the far-sighted but clear-eyed Ruth, but so connects with her character’s anger and pain that she’s plays sole identifiable victim." - Matthew Murray
From Talkin Broadway
"Last Saturday, I had an Alan Ayckbourn immersion. And it was one of the most hilarious days and nights I've ever spent in a theater."
"The six-member British cast, which honed its ensemble performance in London, is brilliantly expressive."
"The actors nail their characters' essential personalities right from the start — aided by Rob Howell's dead-on costumes — and then cleverly fill in the often-unexpected details."
"The plays are performed in the round, giving us an unusually intimate relationship with the characters, and when a splash of stew or a piece of a smashed plate lands in the audience, I'm not sure it's entirely an accident."- Robert Feildberg
From NorthJersey.com
"Playwright Alan Ayckbourn is a master of the intricate plot and complicated character relationships that will have you laughing out loud one minute and then contemplating the seriousness of it all the next. There are three full length interlinked plays – Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden. You can see them in any order. You do not have to see all three but after seeing one you can be sure that you’ll want to see the others. They even have a special deal to accommodate such desires. You will be hooked on these characters and want to know what happens to them over this long, illuminating and catastrophic weekend."- Oscar E Moore from the rear mezzanine for Talk Entertainment.com
"Whether it's Bullmore endowing the nearsighted Ruth with chicken-like twitches, Hynes awkwardly fumbling in an oversize cardigan, or Ritter reacting to foul homemade carrot wine, the cast (brought over from the Old Vic production) is never less than awe-inspiring."- Elisabeth Vincentelli
From New York Post
"At the reconfigured Circle in the Square, the revival plays in the round. One eye-catching scenic element is a circular rendering of the family's country home, plus tiny trees, roads and cars. The model is depicted on the top and bottom of a disk the size of the stage, hanging just above the playing area - underscoring how the world can turn upside down in a flash. As each act begins, the model disk rises up to the ceiling, reminding me of the mother ship in "Close Enounters." Fitting for an experience that's out of this world." - Joe Dziemianowicz
From Daily News
"Seeing one play in "The Norman Conquests" is a pleasure. Watching a second is even better. Add a third and you will get the full force of Ayckbourn's expert theatrical delirium." - Michael Kuchwara
From Associated Press
"All of these antics are made infinitely more amusing by the fact that Norman is not exactly the ''Greek god'' he fancies himself. Shaggy-haired, bug-eyed, beard badly in need of trimming, perpetually disheveled, he's more, as Annie says in Round and Round the Garden, ''a badly built haystack.'' Or ''an old English sheepdog.'' (Actually, that's only one of many canine comparisons Norman conjures. He's frequently found splayed out on the floor, or scuttling about on all fours, or generally begging to be petted/scratched/cuddled. ''He really only jumps up at people who encourage him,'' Ruth says later to an indignant Sarah. ''It's a general rule, if you don't want him licking your face, don't offer him little tidbits.'')" - Melissa Rose Bernardo
From EW.com
"As Annie, the comfortably radiant Jessica Hynes creates the most sympathetic character - the unmarried caregiver of her demanding, unseen mother, who just might run off with Norman, her sister's husband." - Linda Winer
From NewsDay.com