Alan Ayckborn’s comic stage trilogy, called “The Norman Conquests,” won critical adulation and awards (including a Tony Award for best revival of a play) when produced on Broadway as "House and Garden" last year, and the plays thus reclaimed a place on theatergoers’ radar.

But even so, the trilogy — which premiered in 1973, and can be watched in any order — isn’t generally something that community theater companies tend to pursue. So it was probably a bit of a surprise to many see “Conquests” on P.T.D. Productions’ 2010 season lineup.

“I think that whenever you do something new, there’s always some degree of skepticism as to whether or not it can work,” said director Jan Carpman, who was inspired to stage the show after watching all three plays in one day on Broadway. “But I have to say that the P.T.D. company has been wholeheartedly behind this, and was excited about doing something new and challenging.”

The trilogy focuses on three siblings — sisters Annie and Ruth and brother Reg — who, along with their partners, spend one summer weekend at the ancestral family estate in rural England.

Annie unhappily finds herself caring for her tyrannical, invalid mother; Ruth is a successful businesswoman whose husband, Norman, considers himself an irrepressible ladies’ man; Reg is a boyish real estate agent who’s accompanied by Sarah, his high-strung wife; and Tom is the veterinarian-next-door who might, or might not, be Annie’s love interest.

“What really appealed to me was the fact that (‘Conquests’) was a trilogy, and that the plays are very interwoven,” said Carpman. “It’s like a puzzle to put together what’s going on in one play, and then what’s going on in another.”

Each play is set in a different part of the estate. “Table Manners,” which P.T.D. will present as a fully staged play, is set in the dining room; “Living Together,” which P.T.D. will present as a concert reading, happens in the sitting room; and “Round and Round the Garden,” also presented as a concert reading, takes place outdoors. All three plays feature the same group of characters during the same weekend, and regarding time, they sometimes overlap.

So why, when deciding to present “Conquests” as two readings and one full production, did Carpman choose “Table Manners” for the latter?

“In some ways, it’s the most complicated, and it has the most physical humor,” said Carpman. “It’s very engaging for audiences, and also, it uses a lot of food, which is fun. Of the three, (‘Manners’) was the one that sparkled the most to me.”

The concert readings of “Living” and “Round,” meanwhile, will feature actors performing on-book and in-costume, without a set, using both props and movement. And while the demands of preparing for concert readings is less intensive than preparing a full-fledged play, the combination of doing both simultaneously has been a challenge for both Carpman and her cast.

“What’s rewarding for the actors, though, is that they get to know their characters so much better by working on all three plays,” said Carpman. “Because we’d been rehearsing for ‘Table Manners,’ they all already knew the characters and the relationships among them. … And in a way, that made it so much easier than starting from scratch.”

Ultimately, the linchpin of the trilogy is Norman, who pursues his sister-in-law, Annie, while provoking strong feelings from everyone else.

“He is somebody who lives to flirt and, he says, to make women happy,” said Carpman. “But really, he wants to make himself happy by projecting himself as someone who’s attractive and appealing to women. He’s an assistant librarian, so he’s not a big career man, and he just bumbles along and lives by own rules. But … he charms women because he gives them what they want. He makes them feel like they’re wanted and attractive, and he asks for their attention and compliance in relationships, which is something the other men don’t ask for, and don’t even know how to ask for. So there’s a novelty about that for these women.”

Here's a clip of Carpman discussing "The Norman Conquests," from P.T.D.'s website.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.