“One of the best social satires we’ve ever had”

It’s a story that has stood the test of time for nearly 40 years. It’s been a best-selling novel and an Academy Award winning movie and now, following its sell-out success in London’s West End, the stage adaptation of The Graduate has arrived on Broadway.

Cited by The New York Times as being “one of the best social satires we’ve ever had”, The Graduate tells the story of Benjamin Braddock, a college graduate who returns to his family home, unable to decide what to do with his future. Naïve and confused, Benjamin is seduced by Mrs Robinson, the frustrated wife of his father’s business partner. They embark on a chaotic affair that begins to unravel when Benjamin falls in love with the Robinson’s daughter, Elaine.

The enduring popularity of The Graduate is due to many factors – the classic ‘generation gap’ story, the memorable movie performances (from a cast that included Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross) and the iconic imagery and dialogue. It therefore came as no surprise when, in 1998, the American Film Institute published a poll in which The Graduate was named as the seventh most popular motion picture of all time.