DAVID Suchet finds himself on the wrong side of the law when he stars in Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy at Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud theatre from Wednesday, September 22, to Saturday, October 2.

Described when it was first produced as "one of the most fascinating pieces of theatre to come our way in many years", it's a lavish Yvonne Arnaud Theatre production directed by Maria Aitken and featuring a large cast, including David Yelland.

Suchet (pictured above) plays powerful financier Gregor Antonescu, who visits his estranged son in a Greenwich Village apartment in an attempt to extricate himself from the most catastrophic disaster of his career.

He discovers that the FBI is after him, and gradually his closest allies desert him - but can he rely on his son?

Set in 1930s New York, the play confronts the relationship between a father and son against a backdrop of love and betrayal.

Written in 1961, Rattigan predicted that the play would go virtually unnoticed in his own day - but would be rediscovered and acclaimed many years later.

Co-producer Michael Whitehall said the writer is about to be proven correct.

He said: "One is always wary of producing 'lost masterpieces', but in Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy, I discovered a play of great quality and enormous potential.

"The key to a successful revival was who could play Gregor, the central protagonist? And then I heard that David Suchet was interested."

Suchet himself commented: "Gregor is a very dangerous man, but I like interesting characters and there are so many dimensions to him. Rattigan brought his own darkness to the play and a sense of betrayal.

"I take seriously the task of becoming other people to serve my writer. Rattigan was a great writer who wanted to be taken more seriously.

"Critics said in 1963 that Man and Boy was his greatest play. Rattigan wrote it to be his greatest - and it is extraordinary."

Rattigan wrote around 40 plays, including The Winslow Boy, The Browning Version, The Deep Blue Sea, Separate Tables and After the Dance.

Suchet, a multi-award-winning actor and holder of an OBE, is internationally acclaimed for his role as Poirot, which he has played since 1989.

David Yelland (Chariots of Fire) and Ben Silverstone (Ariel in Richard Briers' The Tempest and the title role in My Boy Jack) head a superb cast.

Ticket prices for Man and Boy are available from the box office on 01483 440000 or from www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk