Rory Kinnear brings old-school reserve and charm to the role of John Maynard Keynes in James Graham's new play The Standard of Living, now running at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. The production, directed by Nicholas Hytner, takes audiences through two world wars, the Wall Street Crash and economic wrangles in Whitehall, all set against Keynes's involvement with the Bloomsbury group.
Economics made human
Keynes, the foremost thinker of economic policy in 20th-century Britain, was also an art lover, avant-gardist and bisexual who had affairs with Lytton Strachey and Duncan Grant. Graham's high-wire writing balances British social history and complex political ideas with speed, sparkle and a humorous lightness of touch. The play repeatedly asks "What is a good life?" and makes clear that economics is about the choices we are afforded in relation to freedom, happiness and culture.
Bob Crowley's set design features moving screens of art and archival footage, while Keynes explains his theories in lectures and cleverly crafted dialogue. The play details how he espoused government intervention and state spending after the war, secured credit from America to rebuild Britain, and helped create the Arts Council, serving as its first chair.
Polished but lacking edge
Despite the accomplished staging, the drama has a slightly static quality. Keynes's marriage to Russian ballet dancer Lydia Lopokova, played by ballerina Natalia Osipova in her acting debut, is portrayed as straightforwardly sweet. His arguments with economist Friedrich Hayek seem too polite to offer anything truly combative, though his relationship with ex-lover Strachey is scratchier.
Kinnear is never less than lovable in the role, yet his emotional life remains sealed off behind the three-piece suited exterior. As Strachey snidely puts it, Keynes looked like a "tax man" – his bohemianism hiding inside the carapace of capitalism.
Contemporary relevance
There is a knowing moment when Keynes speaks of the draw to populism and political extremism during economic downturns – a nod to today and a justification of the play's contemporary relevance. The Standard of Living is at Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, until 12 December.
