Review: Man and Boy, National Theatre

Video transcript and additional thoughts below: “Man and Boy at the National Theatre is a Terrence Rattigan play. It is set in New York during the crash of the 1920s/1930s, and it centres on a father and son.

The father, Gregor, played by Ben Daniels, is a millionaire who is trying to save a deal that will save his empire, and he flees to the apartment of his estranged son, played by Laurie Kynaston.

And so there are two dynamics going on, because there is the saving of the deal, trying to save the financial empire, but also that relationship between father and son. What caused this estrangement and how do they navigate that?

Ben Daniels as Gregor is absolutely superb.

He is a delicious mix. He is the master manipulator in getting people to do what he wants them to do, but he does it with so much charm and charisma. He’s a joy to watch.

Laurie Kynaston as Basil, you can see this battle. He has this love-hate relationship with his father that is really interesting to see playing out.

I was a little bit unsure about the staging to start with. It’s a very contemporary staging.

There are a couple of large tables that the actors leap up on and off, but they make that part of the performance.

You forget that it’s a table that they’re standing on after a while.

I loved this. I thought it was superb, and I’m giving it five stars.”

Additional thoughts:

This revival feels timely. Gregor is an extremely rich financier who has the ear of many important people, including politicians. It allows him manouevre through the world more smoothly and duplicitously.

His son feels representative of the relationship society seems to have with the ultra-rich. Wooed by their status and charm, and yet repulsed by their entitled and manipulative behaviour. But which wins out?

There are many tonal and behavioural contrasts between the first and second half, I almost wish there hadn’t been an interval. That pause made it feel like a slightly too big leap.