Make and Break

Set against the frenetic backdrop of a West German trade fair, Michael Frayn's sharp-edged drama follows John Garrard, a driven manufacturer whose restless appetite for the world around him knows no bounds. He consumes people, their beliefs, desires, and contradictions, with the same efficiency he applies to business. But over the course of one charged evening, as commerce and human need collide in equal measure, Garrard finds the one subject he has always managed to avoid staring back at him.

The production's full ensemble cast, including Martin Jarvis, Michael York, and Rosalind Ayres, brings the noise and energy of the trade floor to life, each character rendered with distinct weight and texture. Frayn's play was written for voices, and the audio format honors that origin, letting the overlapping ambitions and deflections land with theatrical immediacy. At under two hours, the pacing is relentless, matching Garrard's own refusal to slow down.