Theatre review: The Visit

Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Swiss classic The Visit, transported to 1950s America, poses the question: how much would you kill for?

Simon Startin and Paul Gladwin in The Visit
(Image credit: Johan Persson)

The Visit, Adapted by Tony Kushner from a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Directed by Jeremy Herrin, Running at the National Theatre until 13 May

There’s an old joke about Lord Beaverbrook asking someone he met at a party if she was willing to sleep with him for a million dollars. When she replied that she was, he asked her if she was willing to sleep with him for $100. “What do you think I am?” the woman replied. “We’ve already established what you are. All we’re doing is bargaining about price.” The Visit, adapted by Tony Kushner from a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and currently running at the National Theatre, makes the case that, like the woman in the joke, everyone has a price.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

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