Before Terrence Rattigan finished the first draft of this play, he wrote a letter to a pal.

The letter said that the play would be hailed 50 years later as: "The best work of a fashionable contemporary dramatist - ironically never performed in his lifetime."

Shortly thereafter, in 1963, it was given brief runs in London and New York but the reviews, with just a few exceptions, were poor.

Now, 40 years later, Man And Boy is being revived with David Suchet in the lead role. The Poirot actor believes it may just be time for the play to be accepted as the masterpiece Rattigan always said it was.

"Rattigan was a very sensitive man," he says. "The poor reception first time round broke his heart.

"I want to try to rediscover this play. One of the reasons why I became an actor is to support and serve writers - and Rattigan surely deserves to be given another chance with Man And Boy.

"I think it is one of his greatest pieces of writing. This was the play for which he most hoped he would be remembered."

Set in Thirties Manhattan, Man And Boy is one of a group of plays in which Rattigan explored the corrupting influences of money and power. It was allegedly inspired by infamous Twenties financial swindler Ivar Kreuger an follows Gregor Antonescu - a financier whose advice is sought by presidents, ministers and kings - on the day that his high-octane world of spin and finance collapses around him.

So much for the man. The boy is Basil Antony, Gregor's son - who disowned him five years before after a bitter family feud. On the single summer night around which the play revolves, Gregor turns up at Basil's Greenwich apartment, on the run from the world of mergers with dodgy collateral.

Although they haven't spoken for years, dad charms the long-lost son into giving up his flat for a business meeting which could save him.

Like many of Rattigan's plays which feature sons who disappoint fathers and fathers who shatter sons' illusions, the emotionally charged parent/child relationship dominates all other action and themes.

Also key to the lasting resonance of the work is the complexity of its central character and the unfathomable conundrum of whether he is the great financier hailed as the saviour of Europe or just a charming crook who has come to the end of the road.

"It was so bold," enthuses Suchet. "Rattigan had a huge amount to say and I don't think he wanted people to feel comfortable about it. Like Chekhov's plays, it goes deeper and deeper the more you study it.

"On the surface, you've got the story of a crooked businessman. But he is basically the Devil, a character who will stop at nothing, either physically or psychologically, to achieve his ends."

Despite the playwright's reputation as king of safe armchair drama, it has been suggested the initial failure of the play was due to its themes and depth being way before its time.

Suchet is firmly of this opinion, and is far from concerned by Man And Boy's previous problems.

"It doesn't worry me at all. It's the very thing that excites me," he says. "I just want to concentrate on giving Terry his voice back in the theatre, to rediscover the work of a great writer who really understood human nature."

*Starts 7.45pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm, tickets cost £24. Call 01273 709709.