National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

Cast

Richard Griffiths

Fitz / W. H. Auden

Alex Jennings

Henry / Benjamin Britten

Frances de la Tour

Kay

Stephen Wight

Tim / Stuart

Philip Childs

Brian

Elliot Levey

Neil

John Heffernan

George

Barbara Kirby

Joan

Martin Chamberlain

Ralph

Laurence Belcher

Young Boy