Theatre review: The Standard of Living

Combining arts, politics, economics and bisexuality, James Graham has already chosen John Maynard Keynes for Radio 4's Great Lives, it was only a matter of time before he wrote a play about him. The Standard of Living takes us from the start of the First World War to the fallout from the Second as the economist Keynes* (Rory Kinnear) starts to get the ear of the government despite being a conscientious objector. He spends his days with the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf (Naomi Frederick,) Vanessa Bell (Claire Price) and his ex, Lytton Strachey (Pip Carter,) and this immersion in the world of the arts combines with his economic theories when he manages to convince an already debt-ridden government to invest in the art collection of the recently-deceased French painter Edgar Degas.

He argues that because the auction taking place in the middle of a war will mean bargain prices, the paintings will eventually become a reserve for the UK as their value rises; but he's equally forceful about the fact that having them on display in the National Gallery will enrich the lives of the people.

This holistic approach that sees financial investment and growth as inextricably linked with the quality of day-to-day life becomes the heart of Keynesian economics, but politicians become harder to convince as time goes on. His arguments against the disastrous Treaty of Versailles fall on deaf ears, and for decades the prevailing theory of Laissez Faire defeats his pleas for investment to actually stimulate the economy.

His private life is equally messy but much more successful: After a lifetime of only sleeping with men, falling hard for painter Duncan Grant (Thomas Flynn) while filling a whole notebook with other conquests (including Luke Cinque-White as a German civil servant he's meant to be negotiating with, and possibly trying to pull Einstein,) the surprising love of his life turns out to be Russian ballet star Lydia Lopokova (Natalia Osipova,) whom he marries and builds the Cambridge Arts Theatre for - the first of his major contributions to public arts that culminate in the creation of The Arts Council.

The lead might be bi but Graham's play is a surprisingly straight biography, and Nicholas Hytner's production doesn't do much to distract from that despite little ballet breaks, and Luke Halls' videos bringing to life both the changing times and their art. The old-fashioned structure is a reflection of Keynes' no-nonsense delivery of his theories but not so much of their spirit, but it's the only thing about the play I didn't find particularly interesting.

Graham relying on Keynes' life to be interesting enough still gives us plenty of drama, including a disciple turned nemesis in the young Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek (Laurie Kynaston,) who goes from admirer of Keynes' arguments against the Treaty of Versailles to the most vocal proponent of Laissez Faire. On the flipside his political antagonist William Beveridge (George Taylor) ends up giving his name to the famous report that created the welfare state and most drastically made use of Keynesian economics.

Kinnear is very much in everyman mode as he delivers clear arguments in favour of making capital work rather than hoarding it, including a metaphor about a pound making its way around a village that got a spontaneous round of applause. This play has probably been brewing for a while as it would have felt very topical in the middle of Austerity politics but unfortunately the theme of failing to convince those in power to let go of even a little of their wealth never feels dated. But The Standard of Living makes as good an argument as anyone can for the theories of a man whose economics were driven by the first question he asked anyone new he met: "What is a good life?"

The Standard of Living by James Graham is booking until the 12th of December at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.

*to rhyme with "pains," not "beans"