National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

April. 22,2010      
Rating:
8.4
Trailer Synopsis Cast

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.

Richard Griffiths as  Fitz / W. H. Auden
Alex Jennings as  Henry / Benjamin Britten
Frances de la Tour as  Kay
Stephen Wight as  Tim / Stuart
Elliot Levey as  Neil
John Heffernan as  George
Adrian Scarborough as  Donald / Humphrey Carpenter

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Reviews

Evengyny
2010/04/22

Thanks for the memories!

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Cathardincu
2010/04/23

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

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Loui Blair
2010/04/24

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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Geraldine
2010/04/25

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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