The Standard of Living

A new play by James Graham about the economist John Maynard Keynes, presented in a world premiere at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. It is a contemporary theatre production that mixes drama with music and dance.

Written by James Graham, this world premiere follows John Maynard Keynes, the economist and member of the Bloomsbury Group, through his marriage to the ballerina Lydia Lopokova, his relationship with Duncan Grant and his friendship with Virginia Woolf. The action moves between the government offices of Whitehall and a circle of artists and writers who wanted to live by different rules. As financial markets collapse and the country faces turmoil, Keynes begins to ask what a good life might consist of.

Nicholas Hytner directs a cast led by Rory Kinnear, with Natalia Osipova, a principal of the Royal Ballet, making her West End debut. Music, dance and debate run through the production, which gives a portrait of a man who set out to imagine a better society.

The play is staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, a West End theatre in London, for a limited season.