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This is recommended for ages 12+
Performance Dates
21 September - 12 December 2026
Run time: TBC
No interval
Can you put a price on happiness, beauty and love?
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?
Can art, love and human connection reshape the future before it's too late? Or is the world too addicted to wealth and power to change?
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.
The Standard of Living is a new play by James Graham set during a period of economic crisis and cultural change in early 20th-century Britain. It follows John Maynard Keynes’s attempt to understand what makes a meaningful life, as old systems begin to collapse and society questions what it truly values.
At its heart, the play asks whether art, love and human connection can reshape the world—or whether humanity is too bound to wealth and power to change course.
Rory Kinnear plays John Maynard Keynes, the influential British economist whose ideas helped reshape modern financial systems in the aftermath of the First World War.
A member of the Bloomsbury Group, Keynes moved between the political establishment in Whitehall and a radical artistic circle that included writers, artists and dancers. His personal and intellectual life was closely entwined with Lydia Lopokova, a celebrated Russian ballerina who becomes a central figure in the story.
Royal Ballet Principal Natalia Osipova makes her West End debut as Lydia Lopokova. The production is directed by Nicholas Hytner, with set design by Bob Crowley, bringing together a leading creative team for the world premiere.
15 Jun, 2026 | By Hay Brunsdon
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