Table Manners

Table Manners is the first installment of The Norman Conquests trilogy, written by Sir Alan Ayckbourn. A situational comedy, the entire play takes place in Annie’s (Kathryn Moloney) dining room. To find out what was happening in the living room the whole time you have to come back to Essendon in March next year for part two: Living Together.

Director Tess Maurici Ryan chose to stage the play in the round. That could have been a complete disaster if not for her strong direction and the cast’s obvious dedication to master the difficult space. This proved extremely useful during the dinner scene, which may have posed a challenge for the audience in a more traditional setting. Unfortunately some lines were lost early on due to the torrential rain but this was no fault of the actors involved.

The small cast maintained a high level of stage energy throughout the evening. Sarah (Pauline Snell) and Reg (Craig Ryan) appeared to have fallen straight out of Keeping Up Appearances, and Annie, Ruth (Jackie Fraser), and Tom (Xavier Ryan) all performed excellently. Obviously, the trilogy concerns Norman (James Antonas), an obnoxious, insolent and pretentious playboy with a knack for getting anyone on side. Scene 2 (Sunday Morning) is essentially an extended monologue for Norman, and Antonas handled the text impeccably and with considerable flair.

A combination of strong writing and direction and eager interpretations makes this production of Table Manners a real treat. This is a delightfully dysfunctional family that you just can’t help but love.

Ian Nisbet