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.
"Ralph Fiennes gives one of the best performances of his career." - The Independent
"Simon Godwin mischievously blows the dust off the period trappings. The work's intellectual energy and comic zest are infectious." - The Daily Telegraph
"Ralph Fiennes fizzes in Bernard Shaw’s brilliantly odd masterpiece." - London Evening Standard
series: NT Live
A groundbreaking initiative of London's National Theatre that broadcasts the world's finest stage performances to cinemas around the world.