Man and Boy at the National Theatre

A Gershwin-esque overture bursts into the auditorium, and brightly lit Art Deco-style writing beams down onto the stage, plunging The Dorfman Theatre into 1930s New York. Terrance Rattigan’s Man and Boy is set in the early 1930s, in Greenwich Village, just after the Wall Street Crash, and the end of Prohibition.

Rattigan wrote Man and Boy after his reputation had taken a beating. After basking in the limelight of the British theatre scene in the mid-30s to the mid-50s, by 1961, when Man and Boy was published, he had been deemed well past his prime by the public, and the play was received poorly – the Broadway staging ran for only 54 shows.

Though Man and Boy fell short for Rattigan in his lifetime, under Anthony Lau’s dynamic direction, it could be believed to have been his magnum opus. Lau examines each moment of manipulation, devastation, and desperation with the help of Aline David, whose movement direction utilising tables and chairs makes the performers grow and shrink dependent on their power, despite the simplicity of the set.

Ben Daniels is outstanding as Gregor Antonescu, the disgraced businessman willing to sacrifice anything to hold onto his wealth and influence. At once the hero and the villain, Daniels dances the line between absolute control and erraticism, dissecting the actions of a financial tycoon clawing at the last shreds of their legacy. This examination of masculinity is particularly poignant as the floodgates open on the Epstein scandal, adding weight to lines such as: “To be absolutely powerful, a man must corrupt himself absolutely.”

Laurine Kynaston plays Basil Anthony, Gregor’s son. After running away from his father five years previously, Kynaston’s performance excellently balances frustration with unconditional filial adoration. In the intimate hall of The Dorfman, nothing can be hidden – from the boyish cotton socks of Basil, to the veins that protrude from Gregor’s temples in moments of focus.

There are many moments of lightness during the performance, with humour peppered subtly throughout. Carol Penn (Phoebe Campbell), the endearing partner of Basil, is sweet and playful, and the stoic Sven (Nick Fletcher) finds comedy within his straight-laced deliveries. Malcom Sinclair as Mark Herries, Isabella Laughland as Countess Antonescu and Leo Wan as David Beeston continue to demonstrate the passion and chemistry of the entire cast.

Rattigan spent much of his career exploring his relationship with his own father, his familial wounds palpable throughout Man and Boy. The show is heartbreaking, yet human, finally giving Rattigan’s most overlooked work the attention that it deserves.