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 25 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. One of the first five episodes also released on terrestrial TV on a 2009 BBC TV series titled "National Theatre Live".
Acting
Griffiths and Jennings spar like they're fighting for their lives.
Writing
Bennett's wordplay sharp enough to draw blood.
Direction
Hytner balances intimacy and theatrical scale masterfully.
Director
Nicholas Hytner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bennett wrote this partly in response to Humphrey Carpenter's controversial dual biography that outed Britten's relationships with boys.
The title's double meaning — 'habit' as addiction and religious garment — mirrors the play's tension between sacred art and sordid human need.
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