Living Together

This is one of the plays from Ayckbourn's 'Norman Conquest' trilogy which he holds was not written to be performed simultaneously or in any particular order. However, the dysfunctional relationships between the six characters that appear in the series are such that I feel many people would be better able to appreciate the goings-on had they seen any one of these plays previously performed. The setting for this play is the living room of a Victorian vicarage type house and SLT's set was well designed and constructed to represent such a room. The experienced and competent cast assembled for this production was as follows, Norman (played by Russell Foster), his wife Ruth (played by Karen Day), her brother Reg (played by Tony Gordon) and his wife Sarah (played by Tina Hodgson),  Ruth's sister Annie (played by Sarah Covill) and Tom, who is Annie's next-door neighbour (played by Richard Wood). Norman is unhappy, as are the other characters in this play, but Norman believes that the key to his happiness and indeed that of Ruth, Sarah and Annie is for him to provide them with love i.e. sexual pleasure, then everything will be alright. When Normnan attepts to make his conquests, chaos ensues, but eventually harmony is restored as the gathering disbands. This was a highly entertaining production in which all the players worked diligently to ensure that none of the comedic moments were lost, their characterisation and timing being excellent. Congratulations to all concerned in this fine team effort.

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