Round and Round the Garden - A Play

by Alan Ayckbourn

In this play, Sarah's desperate attempts to have a nice, civilized week end culminate, not surprisingly, in disaster. Ruth, Norman's wife, is summoned but Norman still contrives to cause havoc involving, finally, all three women. Matters are not helped by such events as the slow thinking Tom mistaking Ruth's intentions during a conversation they have together. Eventually the horrific week end draws to a close.|3 women, 3 men

Genres: Plays, Comedy, Theatre

58 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 1973

About the author

Sir Alan Ayckbourn is a popular and prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit Relatively Speaking opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967. Major successes include Absurd Person Singular (1975), The Norman Conquests trilogy (1973), Bedroom Farce (1975), Just Between Ourselves (1976), A Chorus of Disapproval (1984), Woman in Mind (1985), A Small Family Business (1987), Man Of The Moment (1988), House & Garden (1999) and Private Fears in Public Places (2004). His plays have won numerous awards, including seven London Evening Standard Awards. They have been translated into over 35 languages and are performed on stage and television throughout the world. Ten of his plays have been staged on Broadway, attracting two Tony nominations, and one Tony award.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admission from the top, this the first book/play (from 1973) I have only seen performed, not read. But as performed by our amateur play-acting group, this the best play we've done in ten years. For instance, better than a selection of scenes I produced from Shakespeare.
Personae include one son and two daughters caring for "Ma upstairs" who is in decline, and we never meet. Genius to include a reserved vet suitor so we get lines like, "Septic paw, you know." Or later in the play, the vet hears Annie swear "nun's knickers," such a British word which I recognize from the Lady's Department on "Are You Being Served."
The plot features bourgeois desire, as have English comedies from the 17C Restoration period until Stoppard. Desire here, largely Norman's conquests--all three women in the plot consider going to bed with him, and a couple do, though one's his wife, Ruth. Plot highlights include a couple props, the cat up a tree, and Norman's striking new silk pyjamas for running away with Annie, who decides not to.
The son, Reg, entirely misjudges his sisters, thinks "Not many women like him. Sarah doesn't, but I do." Wrong about his wife, and ironic, since this whole passage is right after Sarah was making out with the ingratiating (though sometimes drunken) Norman.
Even Chronobiology, my postdoc study at Cornell with med school prof Sander Gilman, enters in, specifically circumvigintan lunacy, "The women are restless tonight, on edge. Probably a full moon."
Reg, "Mother always says the same thing. What did you marry her for? You'll live to regret it"(30).
Play ends ironically, almost touching.
PS Like "knickers," the title includes a Britism, "garden" over there meaning "our yard."

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've written enough about the Norman Conquests in my reviews of the other two plays. I'll just say that my appreciation grew as I got further into the trilogy. These are six great characters in genuinely funny sex farce, a farce that is more believable when all is said and done, than most.

[Anton Segers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ijzersterke finale van deze trilogie, vintage Ayckbourn. De enige conclusie die je, samen met Ayckbourn en Tsjechov kan trekken: de mens en de liefde, een onwerkbare, zelfs gevaarlijke combinatie. Maar wel oergeestig.

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third play in "The Norman Conquests," and what I've said about the first two audio recordings I reviewed holds for this one, too. Brilliant play, but dated in gender areas. It's somewhat painful to listen to unless you keep in mind that it is a time capsule from another period. Then, it is amusing.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
Superb

Third and final play in the Norman Conquest Trilogy and I shall miss the mandatory line, the family reactions from an excellent cast and the glorious comic madness of it all. Interwoven plays required brilliant advanced planning and technical ability.A

Loved them all.

[Brian McCann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third play of THE NORNAN CONQUESTS trilogy. Classic farce. Better to view than to read.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has some very funny moments if performed well, but it's showing its age.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

1 of the delightful trio of Norman Conquest plays that have Ayckbourn close to his comic best.