Crooked corruption in the corporate world and the razzle dazzle game that the big dogs play in order to win

Terence Rattigan’s 1963 play Man and Boy tells the story of ruthless businessman Gregor Antonescu, who turns up at the New York apartment of his estranged son, Basil, just as news breaks of a major financial scandal. Gregor appears unable to account for large sums of missing cash and time is running out to save his reputation.

In a last-ditch attempt to save his company’s merger with American Electric, Gregor gathers the owner, a slimy man named Mark Herries and his meticulous, over-eager accountant David Beeston to carefully reword a statement to the press. The aim is simple: minimise the damage. But everything has a price (including his son).

Making his National Theatre directorial debut, Anthony Lau gives Rattigan’s drama a sharp contemporary edge. The stylised set design reinforces the idea that business is a game and one Gregor certainly knows how to play. Characters climb on and off tables, physically asserting dominance as height becomes a visual metaphor for power.

Ben Daniels and Laurie Kynaston strike a compelling balance as father and son. Their performances capture the painful rift that has kept them apart for five years: Gregor, calculating and self-serving; Basil, still clinging to the hope that his father might finally choose love over leverage.

Leo Wan provides welcome comic relief as David Beeston, with reams of financial paperwork spilling from his briefcase as he desperately tries to be heard amid the chaos.

Phoebe Campbell as Carol Penn and Isabella Laughland as Countess Antonescu, however, feel underused. Campbell appears only briefly at the start, while Laughland does not enter until well into the second half, leaving both characters somewhat underdeveloped.

I thoroughly enjoyed Man and Boy at the National Theatre. Reviving this rarely staged work in 2026 feels especially timely. Its portrait of corporate power-play, where sex, deception, greed and corruption are pieces on a chessboard, resonates strongly. In this world, there is only one objective: to win.

If you picture Jeffrey Epstein playing Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago, you get a pretty good idea of what this show is about.

★★★★

West End Wilma

Man and Boy is paying at the National Theatre until 14 March 2026

The Cast

Ben Daniels as Gregor Antonescu
Laurie Kynaston as Basil
Phoebe Campbell as Carol Penn
Nick Fletcher as Sven Johnson
Isabella Laughland as Countess Antonescu
Malcolm Sinclair as Mark Herries
Leo Wan as David Beeston

The Creative Team

Director – Anthony Lau
Set and Costume Designer – Georgia Lowe
Lighting Designer – Elliot Griggs
Intimacy Director – Haruka Kuroda
Choreographer and Movement Director – Aline David
Composer – Angus MacRae
Sound Designer – Giles Thomas
Casting Director – Martin Poile CDG
Dialect Coach – Aundrea Fudge
Staff Director – Rachel Lemon