Stephen Beresford's debut play, which received its celebrated premiere at London's National Theatre, examines the fate of the baby boomer generation and the price of free love. The Last of the Haussmans is a funny, touching and at times savage portrait of a family full of longing that's losing its grip.

Raffish, urbane and frequently drunk, David Highland has kept a grip on his remote coastal parish through a combination of disordered charm and high handed determination. But when his faith impels him to take a hard line with a bereaved parishioner, he finds himself dangerously isolated from public opinion. As his own family begins to fracture and his marriage falls apart, David must face a future that threatens to extinguish not only his position in the town, but everything he stands for. Stephen Beresford's darkly comic play The Southbury Child is an exploration of family and...