The Standard of Living

The Standard of Living description

If you like your theatre thrilling and funny but also deeply moving, The Standard of Living is for you. The play asks important questions. Can we put a financial price on beauty, happiness and love? And what, exactly, is a 'good' life? It is also filled with music, gorgeous dance and inspiring debate. The plot explores the life and times of the brilliant economist, Bloomsbury Group member and rebel John Maynard Keynes. A close friend to Virginia Woolf and a fiercely intelligent liberal socialist, he dared to imagine something better - and his economic theory still holds strong. 

Written by James Graham (Punch, Dear England, Labour of Love), the production is directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys and The Madness of King George, One Man, Two Guvnors and Giant). The cast is looking equally impressive, with Olivier Award-winning Rory Kinnear (Mary Stuart, Hamlet) as John Maynard Keynes himself and Keynes' wife Lydia played by Royal Ballet Principal Natalia Osipova, on her West End debut. And there's set design by Bob Crowley, another plus point. An inspiring story about a remarkable human being, the show's in town for a strictly limited season so grab tickets while you can. 

Playing at Theatre Royal Haymarket (venue info)