National Theatre Live: Man and Superman

5.6
20153h 40m

Academy Award® nominee Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler’s List, Oedipus at the National Theatre) plays Jack Tanner in this exhilarating reinvention of Shaw’s witty, provocative classic. Jack Tanner, celebrated radical thinker and rich bachelor, seems an unlikely choice as guardian to the alluring heiress, Ann. But she takes it in her assured stride and, despite the love of a poet, she decides to marry and tame this dazzling revolutionary. Tanner, appalled by the whiff of domesticity, is tipped off by his chauffeur and flees to Spain, where he is captured by bandits and meets The Devil. An extraordinary dream-debate, heaven versus hell, ensues. Following in hot pursuit, Ann is there when Tanner awakes, as fierce in her certainty as he is in his. A romantic comedy, an epic fairytale, a fiery philosophical debate, Man and Superman asks fundamental questions about how we live.

Production

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Trailers & Videos

Thumbnail for video: National Theatre Live: Man and Superman starring Ralph Fiennes

National Theatre Live: Man and Superman starring Ralph Fiennes

Cast

Photo of Nicholas Le Prevost

Nicholas Le Prevost

Roebuck Ramsden

Photo of Ferdinand Kingsley

Ferdinand Kingsley

Octavius Robinson

Photo of Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes

Jack Tanner/Don Juan

Photo of Indira Varma

Indira Varma

Ann Whitefield/Ana

Photo of Christine Kavanagh

Christine Kavanagh

Mrs Whitefield

Photo of Clare Clifford

Clare Clifford

Miss Ramsden

Photo of Naomi Cranston

Naomi Cranston

Housekeeper/The Sulky Social Democrat

Photo of Nick Hendrix

Nick Hendrix

Hector Malone

Photo of Tim McMullan

Tim McMullan

Mendoza/The Devil

Photo of Colin Haigh

Colin Haigh

The Anarchist

Photo of Arthur Wilson

Arthur Wilson

The Rowdy Social Democrat

Photo of Nicholas Bishop

Nicholas Bishop

The Frenchman (Duval)

Photo of Henry Everett

Henry Everett

Police Officer

Photo of Mary Keegan

Mary Keegan

Police Officer

Photo of Simon Markey

Simon Markey

Police Officer

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Reviews

C

Charlie

What a piece of work is “Man and Superman”? Hard work, to be frank. George Bernard Shaw’s experimental juggernaut — deemed unstageable in 1903 — makes for three and a half hours of tangled philosophy: a blow-away light comedy weighed down by footnotes. It’s a play for changing times, a bid to throw off the past and make things anew, and yet Simon Godwin’s handsome, modern-dress revival at the National Theatre treats it as a cultural artefact. His production abandons its audience, offering no clues for decoding the text, while Ralph Fiennes plays the motor-mouth social reformer Jack Tanner like a tongue-twister challenge. You keep up or else.

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