READING AND AUDITION DATES ANNOUNCED FOR MAN AND BOY

 

MAN AND BOY

BY TERENCE RATTIGAN

DIRECTOR: DAVE CROSSFIELD AND JOANNA STEVELY

PERFORMANCE DATES: 31 MARCH – 10 APRIL 2027

Rehearsals will commence around second week of February 2027.

There will be a reading of the play on 15 October, so that those interested can hear the text come off the page and then make a judgement whether they wish to go forward to the auditions on 18 October.

This will be an opportunity to hear the play read aloud, explore the material, ask questions about the production, and gain a fuller understanding of the piece before auditions.

READING: Thursday 15 October at 7.30 p.m. at the theatre.

AUDITION: Sunday 18 October at 2.0 p.m. at the theatre.

THE PLAY

“In finance, man makes his own miracles.”

Jazz, Broadway, and the Great Depression. In 1930s New York City, ruthless international financier Gregor Antonescu’s luck has finally run out. As news of a catastrophic business deal ripples across the world, he flees to the apartment of his estranged son Basil. There, Gregor will need all of his ruthlessness and ingenuity to save his reputation and keep his empire from collapse. But will he risk using his only son as a pawn in one last power play?

This is a story of a man’s brutal and toxic masculinity versus his son’s idealism and emotional intelligence, and asks the question:  What actually makes someone a man? Power, wealth and dominance, or emotional honesty and moral responsibility?

Terence Rattigan’s Man and Boy was first performed in London in 1963, and has since been revived in theatres all over the world and more recently in 2026 at The National Theatre.

This is a sharp and gripping tale of paternity and corruption, with nuanced characters and piercing dialogue that transports us to a final dramatic and tragic conclusion.

REVIEW

“Man and Boy emerges as a surprisingly hard-edged play…Watching it in the light of the Epstein scandal, it feels pressingly pertinent in its depiction of a valueless world where everything has a price – even love. It has a savagery and sharpness that make it utterly compelling.” WhatsOnStage (review Feb 2026)

CHARACTERS TO BE CAST

All ages are guidelines only.

Gregor Antonescu (Age 50s/60s – Romanian accent and must speak or be prepared to learn to hold some French dialogue)

Gregor is a titan of international finance, an amoral, ruthless, and Mephistophelean Romanian tycoon whose sprawling corporate empire is built on racketeering and illicit accounting. Charismatic, highly intelligent, sociopathic, and entirely incapable of genuine love. He has built a massive financial empire on manipulation and corruption.

When his business empire faces catastrophic collapse following the Wall Street crash, he tracks down his estranged son to use his Greenwich Village apartment as a hideout and operational base. He unscrupulously manipulates everyone around him—including using his own son as a bargaining chip—to save his skin and reputation before his inevitable downfall.

The Puppet Master: He possesses a magnetic, sociopathic charm that allows him to read people’s deepest weaknesses—whether for sex, power, or money—and turn them into leverage.

Inability to Love: Gregor is completely transactional; he views love as a disposable vulnerability and is entirely incapable of returning his son’s affection. Even when facing total ruin, his instinct is not parental protection but self-preservation through exploitation.

Basil Anthony (born Vassily Antonescu) (Age 20s/30s – British accent, and must speak or be prepared to learn to hold some French dialogue)

Basil is Gregor’s estranged, Oxford-raised son who has fled his father’s shadow, changed his name, and chosen a modest, bohemian life as a leftist bar-room pianist in Greenwich Village. A soft-spoken, sensitive young man in New York, trying to live a quiet life far removed from his father’s corrupt world. He broke off contact with his father five years prior.

Reunited when his father unexpectedly barges into his modest apartment, Basil is initially resentful and guarded. Over the course of the play, he is re-drawn into his father’s orbit, manipulated, and emotionally tested as he confronts the painful truth of his father’s inability to care for anyone.

The Conflicted Victim: Despite trying to completely separate himself from his father—even attempting to shoot Gregor five years prior to the events of the play—Basil suffers from a profound, agonising “love-hate” conflict.
The Hapless Pawn: He is written as fragile and deeply conflicted. When Gregor reappears, Basil easily falls back under his father’s hypnotic influence, ultimately allowing himself to be used as a blind pawn and sexual bargaining chip in his father’s desperate corporate schemes.

Sven Johnson (Age 30s/40s/50s/60s – General American or New York accent and must speak or be prepared to learn to hold some French dialogue)

Sven is Gregor’s loyal, calculating right-hand man and fixer.

The Enabler: He is a suave yet sinister presence who assists Gregor in rewriting narratives and executing his deceptive corporate makeovers. While intensely devoted to Gregor throughout his rise, Sven remains a pragmatic survivor who ultimately looks out for his own skin when the ship begins to sink completely.

Mark Herries (Age 40s/50s/60s – General American or New York accent)

Herries is the powerful chairman of American Electric, a wealthy corporate executive whom Gregor attempts to trap into a fraudulent merger.

The Flawed Adversary: On the surface, Herries projects an immaculate image of straight-laced, rigid American corporate dignity. However, he hides a heavily guarded secret life as a gay man in an era where exposure meant total social ruin. It is this exact vulnerability that Gregor targets, ruthlessly manipulating Herries by implicitly dangling Basil as a “sexual decoy”.




Carol Penn (Age 20s/30s – New York/Long Island accent)

Carol is Basil Anthony’s good-natured, working-class American girlfriend. She is an understudy working at a New York theatre and speaks with a broad New York/Long Island accent.

The Voice of Authenticity: Carol represents normalcy, honesty, and genuine affection—everything that Basil’s father, Gregor, is not. Her relationship with Basil is built on actual care rather than transaction.
The Structural Casualty: Carol only appears in the earlier portion of the first act. Once Gregor Antonescu arrives, his toxic, all-consuming presence completely forces her out of the apartment (and out of the play). This sudden departure highlights how Gregor’s arrival instantly destroys the normal life Basil built for himself.

Countess Antonescu (Florence) (Age 20s/30s – Slightly plebeian English accent and must speak or be prepared to learn to hold some French dialogue)

Florence is Gregor’s glamorous, younger wife, a former typist from London who traded her youth for a purchased aristocratic title and a life of luxury.

The Transactional Partner: She openly admits she married Gregor strictly for “sex and signatures”. She mirrors Gregor’s own amoral worldview, proving that she understands the transactional nature of high finance perfectly. 
The Fair-Weather Companion: Florence arrives late in the second act, dressed as a glittering socialite. However, the moment she realises Gregor’s financial empire is completely collapsing—and especially when he suffers a minor stroke—her veneer fades. Showing deep venality and cold-heartedness, she refuses to stick around for a downfall and abandons her husband when he needs her most.

David Beeston (Age 30s/40s – General American or New York accent)

Herries’ senior financial officer who challenges Gregor’s fraudulent financial book keeping.  He shares a memorable tense stand-off with Gregor in front of Herries.

AUDITION GUIDELINES

For the audition you will be asked to perform different parts of the text with other auditionees. Text will be provided on the day and you will be given time to read through and prepare.

Do try to arrive on time so that you don’t miss lots of useful information about the play and being part of the production.

The reading and the audition will be held at the theatre. Please come to the Stage Door at the rear of the theatre in Spencer’s Yard. There is access through the gate to the left of The Fold on Spencer Street. A Loft sign on the gate indicates the direction into the yard. The Fold is the large white building with pillars. Head in the direction of the arrow across Spencer’s Yard to the Stage Door in the corner. The words ‘Stage Door’ are painted on the wall.

 

 

 

To register interest, or if you are interested but can’t make the dates, or for any more information, please get in touch with the director Dave Crossfield at davecrossfield@lofttheatrecompany.com.

CASTING POLICY

The Loft’s casting policy is centred on casting the very best actors for each role. Casting will always be open and neutral. Everyone is welcome and warmly encouraged to attend auditions.  If specific race/ethnicity or other characteristics are central to the story, we will make this clear in audition notices. There is no pre-casting without the express permission of the Artistic Director. We no longer have membership subscriptions. It is free to join our company.