Albert Schultz (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)
In The Garden, Dark and Deep
by Ramya Jegatheesan
Welcome to the garden, where a weekend of depraved seduction takes a twisted turn outside, and Norman, our jubilant anti-hero, muses on his lovely pyjamas, irresistible animal magnetism and the raw pleasure of touching earthy things.
Round and Round the Garden is the rousing and brilliant climax to The Norman Conquests, Alan Ayckbourn’s trio of plays about a librarian who fancies himself a gigolo and unleashes his amorous yearnings upon a dysfunctional family.
This third instalment is a fitting end to Table Manners and Living Together (its predecessors), but even as Round and Round the Garden erupts with hilarity, it carries dark undercurrents of angst, loneliness and pain. Norman is an overgrown, overeager shaggy dog who will mount anyone who rewards him with an encouraging glance. Yet his affable exterior disguises a deep well of insecurity as well as a libertine and cavalier attitude towards life and women. It is a testament to the playwright’s genius that he can take pain and insight and infuse it with so much humour. Ayckbourn takes characters who, at first glance, you might dismiss as hoary clichés, and elevates them to breathtakingly vulnerable and human individuals. The whole trilogy is a fascinating commentary on family and relationship dynamics, and with Soulpepper and director Ted Dykstra at the helm, it is a theatrical experience you will not want to miss.
