Family reunion goes awry

 This explosively funny drama about a family reunion that goes wrong is part one in the trilogy The Norman Conquests, and is directed by Gloria Prentice, who returned to Zimbabwe specifically with this production in mind.
The family in question is nothing short of dysfunctional, and part of the reason we enjoy and revel in the siblings’ misfortunes is because they are not our own. And yet, if we are honest, the same tensions, frustrations, thwarted ambitions and lusts exist within our own families, although they are seldom aired, let alone dramatised on stage.
Annie (Vanessa Voss) is the younger sister of Reg (John Dennison) and Ruth (Sue Bolt), and fast approaching spinsterhood. She has remained in the family home, deep in rural Sussex, where she cares for her invalid mother. Although in love with the slow but well-intentioned vet Tom (Kevin Hanssen), his lack of action drives her to indulge in a fling on a fake-fur rug with Ruth’s randy husband Norman (Tim Harrap). In the opening scene Annie confesses to Reg’s wife Sarah (Fiona Garrity) that she and Norman have planned an illicit weekend in East Grinstead (English equivalent of a weekend in Que Que), while the rest of the family temporarily take over her duties and look after their ailing mother. Sarah is scandalised and Norman’s misdemeanours very quickly become public knowledge.
The cast was superb, and it would be difficult to single out any particular performance. Reg, the mild and pleasant-enough husband of Sarah, is too engrossed in his hobbies and building model aircraft to realise his wife Sarah’s deep sexual frustration, which makes her a prime target for Norman. Sarah, the voluble control freak, does her best to alert Tom the vet to the possibilities of advancing his relationship with Annie: but in spite of her best efforts Tom wanders off saying he needs to check on Annie’s cat, which has an infected paw. Annie has a strong sense of filial duty, but needs a break from her routine. Exasperated by the lethargic Tom, she succumbs to Norman’s blandishments, and would like to do so again.
The drama is played out over a weekend in conversations around the dinner table. Not only are the family members at odds with each other, but the house and its contents are also dysfunctional. There are not enough chairs to go around, and Tom, oblivious to the indignity, has to sit upon a low stool, giving rise to Norman cuttingly referring to him as ‘dwarf’ and ‘little fellow’.
Norman’s wife Ruth is myopic but too vain to wear spectacles. She is also a high-powered business executive, and more interested in her work ethic than in the extra-mural activities of her assistant-librarian husband.
There is very little to eat in the house and one dinner consists of a single lettuce leaf each, with a spoonful of mayonnaise. Annie later concocts an unappetising stew made from tinned food and Norman gets very drunk. As a punishment for his bad behaviour, the family say they will never speak to him again, but he soon tricks them into doing so. Norman then delivers some cruel home truths to each family member, which the audience find both shocking and funny, in turn.
The hirsute and bearded Norman, who describes himself as ‘a gigolo in a haystack’, plays a pivotal role in the play. When the weekend away with Annie fails to materialise, he turns his attentions to the prudish Sarah, who shows herself to be not so prissy after all. We realise that Norman (whom Ayckbourn based upon a real life character) regards any woman, including his estranged wife, as fair game. Further developments and the scope of Norman’s conquests will be played out in parts two and three of the trilogy.
Gloria Prentice is currently based in Australia, but if thespians and fans get their way, she will be back again in Zimbabwe to direct Living Together and Round and Round the Garden, thus completing the trilogy.
Table Manners runs until 30 June
Book at the Spotlight, tel: 308159