Man and Boy
Captioned performance: 11th March 2026 at 7.15pm
Relaxed performance: 10th March 2026 at 6.30pm
Gregor flees the New York financial crash of the 1930s. Seeking shelter with his estranged son, can he rebuild it all?
Anthony Lau directs an updated version of Terence Rattigan’s play.
(seen at the afternoon performance on 7th March 2026)
The monkey has been on quite a Rattigan journey over the past year. From the exquisite “Summer of 1954” – combining “Separate Tables” with “The Browning Version” to the sublime “The Deep Blue Sea,” 2025 was a vintage one.
“Man and Boy” turns out not to be quite in the same league, but the first half in particular runs it close.
Set in 1934, the scandal of Eastern European Oligarch using underhand methods to buy up the West and make a fortune could have been written today. The Gay subtext storyline would have been shocking at the play’s premiere, and even now is sad realising how little progress towards acceptance has truly been made.
Designer Georgia Lowe goes for a baize card table on which high-stakes gambling can play out. Actual tables define rooms in a small Brooklyn basement apartment, and the traverse staging allows director Anthony Lou to have the cast prowl around meaningfully, scuttling for the edges when the centre gets too hot.
A cinema-style billboard above one half of the stalls keeps us informed of who is playing, a nifty metaphor.
Ben Daniels is fantastic as self-made tycoon Gregor Antonescu. That is “fantastic” in its correct use describing “unreal fantasy.” His money exists, what it is based on, and the man himself, proves less tangible. Rattigan at his finest.
Estranged son Basil Anthony (Laurie Kynaston) has forged a new New York life with actress Carol Penn (Phoebe Campbell). Their opening scene together is almost all we see of Campbell, and she uses it well to establish a strong waif-like presence.
A lesson in economics from her lover’s father is well-played too, explaining a lot about liquidity in terms Martin Lewis would find hard to beat.
Kynaston does well to establish who he is initially, then ride the chipping away of all he thinks he stands for. A fiddly role with circumstance rather than emotion to react to, he matches Daniels as required.
Shady assistant Sven Johnson gives Nick Fletcher ample opportunity to play his own interests against those of his corrupt boss. It is amusing and more than sinister.
Malcolm Sinclair as American business owner Mark Herries has his own shades – sexuality firmly hidden as the time requires, another moral dichotomy.
His own assistant, David Beston sees Leo Wan unafraid but outranked. Wan allowing his frustration to show in a slightly clumsily staged yet amusing exit.
Providing contrast, Countess Antonscu (Isabella Laughland) arrives near the end of proceedings to drip jewels and truthful acid on the situation.
Under Elliot Griggs’s strange lighting rig things snap into focus as illumination moves in.
A metaphor for the entire work. Considerable darkness where there should have been light. Shadows against a grid of dazzling optimism.
Perhaps run without an interval to dissipate the tension, or maybe strengthening the speed of the second act would have carried the tale to a more impactful conclusion.
Still, an enlightening demonstration that Rattigan did not just write polite middle-class drama for the theatres of his time; time, at least, well invested.
The monkey advises checking performance times on your tickets and that performances are happening as scheduled, before travelling.
| Run Time: | 2 hours 25 minutes including 1 interval |
| Monday: | 7.15pm |
| Tuesday: | 7.15pm |
| Wednesday: | 7.15pm |
| Thursday: | 7.15pm |
| Friday: | 7.15pm |
| Saturday: | 7.15pm |
| Sunday: | X |
Notes:
6.30pm on 19, 26 February 2026, 3, 10 March 2026.
Venue Box Office & Current Prices
020 3989 5455Venue box office details and show price charts are available on the Dorfman Theatre, the National Theatre page.
TodayTix
TodayTix. Charge between 10% and 20% booking fee per ticket. Discounts are often available as this is a large global ticketing company with this specific aim.
Availability: Box office discretion
Price: £15 off original price / £20 flat rate for Students, Stage Pass, the unwaged, SOLT, NCA and other theatre union members
Notes: STANDBY: Unsold seats may be available at £15 off the original prices to personal callers at the box office from 1 hour before the performance. This is reduced to a flat rate of £20 each to Students, Stage Pass, the unwaged, SOLT, NCA and other theatre union members. Valid I.D. is required for this concession. This offer does not apply to “sold out” performances where only returned and ‘producer’s use’ tickets are available. FRIDAY RUSH: Every Friday at 1pm, a number of £10 seats are also released online and by phone for the following week’s performances via the National Theatre’s website www.nationaltheatre.org.uk.
Address: Lambeth, London, SE1 9PX
Box Office: 020 3989 5455
More details: Seats to buy or avoid at this venue plus travel information and other details can be found on the Dorfman Theatre, the National Theatre page
