Word: normans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...this garden conversation, Annie compares Norman to a shaggy Old English sheepdog. Zito translates that canine quality into a portrayal of the philandering Norman that outshines everyone in a show with several excellent performances. A natural on stage, Zito imbues Norman with a childish whimsicality and impetuousness that, like the three women in the play, you can't help adoring--and, ultimately, despising...
Credit for the show's success must go not only to the actors, but to director Reiffel, who also designed the music, lighting, and sparse but functional set. Only in the first scene of "Garden" when Norman enters carrying his pajamas, does Reiffel's staging falter. As Norman slinks about and Tom stalks a lost cat, the pacing is off, and the scene drags...
...Reiffel more than makes up for the problems in the opening with a riotous climax in the second act in which Annie and Norman collapse onto the lawn in a tumult of passion as Reg and Tom chat obliviously only a few feet away...
THAT LITTLE TRYST on the turf is as far as Norman gets with Annie, or any of the women for that matter; and at the end of the play, as all three turn their backs on him, all he can do is scream in frustration, "I only wanted to make you happy...
Despite the few weak moments and brief periods of uninspired acting and staging in "Round and Round the Garden," Currier's Conquests, unlike Norman's, are a resounding triumph...