
Release Date
Original Release
April 22, 2010
2h 25m
National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art (2010)
Overview
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.
Director

Robin Lough
Department: Directing
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
Genres
Production Companies
