The Standard Of Living
Tickets From £28

Can you put a price on happiness, beauty and love? 

A brand new world-premiere play from the Olivier Award-winning playwright, James Graham (Punch, Dear England, Labour of Love) explodes into the West End for a strictly limited 12-week run. 

Directed by multi award-winner Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys, One Man, Two Guvnors, Giant) and starring Olivier Award winner Rory Kinnear (Skyfall, The Diplomat) and Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova in her West End debut, this blazing new play tells the astonishing story of rebel economist and member of the Bloomsbury Group, John Maynard Keynes

Husband to ballerina Lydia Lopokova. Lover to Duncan Grant. Friend to Virginia Woolf. Keynes moves between the corridors of power in Whitehall and the intoxicating freedom of a radical circle of artists, writers and lovers – all determined to live differently.  

But as markets crash, old systems crumble and Britain teeters on the edge of chaos, one question begins to consume him: 

What is a good life?  

Alive with music, dance, desire and debate, The Standard of Living is a thrilling, funny and deeply moving portrait of a man who dared to imagine something better.  

Closing

12/12/2026

Running Time

2h30, inc interval

Genre

Drama, Plays

Age & Content

12+

Please Note:

Natalia Osipova is not scheduled to appear at the following performances.
Friday 16th October – EVENING
Wednesday 21st October – EVENING
Thursday 22nd October – MATINEE AND EVENING
Monday 26th October – EVENING
Wednesday 4th November – EVENING
Thursday 5th November – MATINEE AND EVENING

Cast:

Rory Kinnear

Natalia Osipova

Creative:

Writer -

James Graham

Director -

Nicholas Hytner

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No accessibility performances are currently scheduled for this show.

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