When Kevin Spacey enters the theater lobby, everyone snaps subtly to attention. He's dressed like a banker, in a nondescript gray suit, plain blue tie and white shirt, but his face is unmistakable: Here are Lex Luthor, Lester Burnham and Verbal Kint.

Spacey is in New York shepherding the transfer of Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests" from the Old Vic Theatre Company in London, where he has been the artistic director for five years, to the Circle In the Square on Broadway.

An actor equally at home on the stage and in front of the camera, Spacey, 49, has won two Academy Awards, in 1995 for "The Usual Suspects" and four years later for "American Beauty." Twice nominated for Tony awards, he won in 1991 for "Lost in Yonkers." He surprised the entertainment world when he decamped for London in 2003, signing a 10-year deal to revitalize the Old Vic.

Last year, the company and the Brooklyn Academy of Music launched Sam Mendes' Bridge Project, starring U.S. and British actors in two works per year running in repertory on both sides of the Atlantic.

Spacey also works closely with Matthew Warchus, who directed this revival of Ayckbourn's 1973 trilogy.

NAUGHTY NORMAN

The trilogy comedies — "Table Manners," "Living Together" and "Round and Round the Garden" — can be seen separately or in any combination. The audience sees Norman, an assistant librarian, seducing three women over the course of a single weekend.

We spoke recently before rehearsals at Circle In the Square.

Lundborg: Why revive "The Norman Conquests" today?

Spacey: When I started at the Vic I made a list of plays I hoped to be able to tackle, and they were the first on my list. I love Ayckbourn, I love these plays. I saw them when I was 13 years old at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Lundborg: This production is played in the round. How did that come about?

Spacey: About a year before we started production, Matthew came to me and said, "I know this is nuts, but I wish we could do them in the round." I had already been experimenting to see if the Old Vic itself, which is a 1,000-seat proscenium house, could actually be elastic. It was one of the greatest decisions we've ever made. It was hailed in London as an extraordinary way to see these plays and also for the Old Vic to find a new perspective.

LIES AND SECRETS

Lundborg: You think it will work on Broadway?

Spacey: You don't have to be British to engage and enjoy these characters' experiences. The joy about having a trilogy of plays is that the audience gets to play detective. You can see one play and think you know everything. But it's only when you see plays two and three that suddenly you start seeing the levels of complexity, the lies, the secrets, the ways in which these characters are lonely and painfully trying to fight through that and colliding against each another.

Lundborg: At the Old Vic, have things evolved in ways that were unexpected?

Spacey: They've evolved in ways I hoped they would. When we began, there was a certain degree of excitement. That quickly shifted to cynicism. But the whole place has been changing and growing. Now we've done 25, 26 productions and we feel we have returned the Old Vic. It's a very exciting place. It's been an extraordinary evolution for me and the most satisfying job I've ever taken.

Lundborg: So you don't miss Hollywood?

Spacey: I never lived in Hollywood, but I am a film actor. I did three movies last year and I'll do two movies this year. The only thing that's changed is that I live in London. I'm full-time there, every day administratively working at the theater. If I make a commitment to do a play, or to direct a play, then that's my commitment and I won't consider doing a film. I sneak off and make movies every now and then. But this is where my heart is.

"The Norman Conquests" runs through July 24 at Circle In the Square, 1633 Broadway at 50th Street. Information: 212-239-6200, www.normanconquestsonbroadway.com.