Table Manners is the first installment of Alan Ayckbourn’s famous trilogy The Norman Conquests. First produced in 1973 at the Library Theatre, Scarborough (England) the play went on to have a successful run on the West End with an all-star cast including Michael Gambon, Penelope Keith and Felicity Kendal.
Ayckbourn wanted to write a trilogy, however his audience (holiday makers at Scarborough) would not make a traditional trilogy viable. He needed to create something that audiences would not necessarily need to see all three parts of to appreciate. Thus, The Norman Conquests was born; a trilogy in which each part is taking place simultaneously in another room of the house.
Ayckbourn describes Table Manners as “the most robust and, as it proved on stage, the most overtly funny” of the three plays.
It is a hilarious comedy about a very dysfunctional family coming together for the weekend under “difficult” circumstances. The play follows the attempts of Norman, “gigolo and assistant librarian”, to seduce all the female members of the family.
Table Manners boasts an excellent local cast; Peter Clarke, Daniel Mitton, Nyree Hughes, Fi Ferrari, Jacqui Warner and Alan Morris. It is a hilarious comedy full of the wit that we expect from Sir Alan Ayckbourn.