We round up the reviews for James Graham’s latest play, running in the West End until the 12th December.
The Guardian: “Kinnear is never any less than lovable in the role, yet you never quite get beyond the three-piece suited exterior. Despite his presence in almost every scene, his emotional life remains sealed off. Maybe that is as it should be: a free, rebellious spirit who infused economics with imagination but looked like a “tax man”, in the snide words of Strachey. Keynes’s bohemianism is hiding inside the carapace of capitalism.”
The Standard: “Graham’s Keynes makes the case for investing in the health and wellbeing of humans, and in “culture as a public good”. Amen to that.”
The Reviews Hub: “Act Two fares better as Keynes finally interacts at length with the excellent Laurie Kynaston’s Austrian economist Hayek and, like Best of Enemies, offers two contrasting points of view on economic policies that could have provided an alternative structure for the play. Here the action begins to ascend as Kynaston and Rory Kinnear’s charismatic Keynes interact in much longer scenes, battling ideas and their two economic traditions, as political, military and collaborative failures dog European countries across the century. Giving these characters more time to debate in public and private would offer more insight into Hayek as Keynes’ relief, leading to a more substantial story about the grounding of our economic system.”
The Telegraph: “The Standard of Living is a timely, stimulating homage to the influential economist from one of our greatest playwrights.”
London Theatre.co.uk: “The potent resonance of this historical drama becomes all too clear as Keynes articulates the danger of leaving a vacuum for populist demagogues proffering easy solutions to desperate people. This is also a passionate and much-needed argument for the value of culture: economic, social, emotional, and spiritual (Keynes founded a theatre in Cambridge as well as the Arts Council). That, both Keynes and Graham rightly proclaim, is vital for a good life.”
The Upcoming: “Ultimately, this portrait of a life seemingly ill-suited for broad-brush theatre makes easy work of the task against the odds. The pacing is swift, the dialogue crisply engaging and the performances are appealing. Whether its protagonist is too thinly sketched, too shorn of rough edges in favour of fable-like whimsy, may be in the eye of the beholder.”
All That Dazzles: “The way James Graham can make any subject watchable despite your own personal interests and dislikes is part of what makes him one of the most accomplished playwrights of his generation.”
West End Best Friend: “John Maynard Keynes’ life was sadly cut short aged just 62 but his impact has lasted longer than his lifetime. Eighty years after his death, The Standard of Living is a wonderful tribute to his impact on the modern world. Graham has captured his belief in using our imagination and challenging the status quo which are certainly values we can take forward to inspire our own lives.”
Time Out: “Director Nicholas Hytner doesn’t bring the sort of pell-mell energy that’s served Graham’s collaborations with Rupert Goold and Jeremy Herrin so well. But The Standard of Living isn’t that sort of play – there’s a minimum of winky fourth-wall breaking – and his production has a graceful pace matched by a projected set (from designer Bob Crowley and projection designer Luke Halls) that’s dazzlingly awash with the most vibrant art of the era.”
Broadway World: “Nicholas Hytner’s direction is measured, bringing order to what is often a flurry of actors on stage. There is a lovely fluidity and polish to the look of the production, in no small part down to Bob Crowley’s effective set of sliding panels which bring Luke Halls’s projections of the contemporary art and archive war photography to life.”
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