''The Habit of Art'' is a 2009 play by English playwright

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

, centred on a fictional meeting between

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

while Britten is composing the opera ''

Death in Venice ''Death in Venice ''(German: ''Der Tod in Venedig'') is a novella by German author Thomas Mann, published in 1912. It presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted, and then increasingly obsessed by the sight of a Poli ...

''. It premiered on 5 November 2009 at the Lyttelton Theatre at the Royal National Theatre, with the central roles filled by

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

as Britten and Richard Griffiths as Auden (the latter replacing Michael Gambon, who had to withdraw from the production due to minor ill health). The performance of April 22, 2010 was broadcast to more than 200 cinemas worldwide b
NTLive

Synopsis

''The Habit of Art'' centres on Fitz, Henry, Tim and Donald, who are actors rehearsing a play called ''Caliban's Day''. (The title reflects Auden's view that '' The Tempest'' was incomplete and Caliban should have an epilogue.) The director has been called away, so they have a run-through/workshop directed by the stage manager, Kay, in the presence of the playwright, Neil. ''Caliban's Day'' is about a fictitious meeting in 1972 in Auden's rooms at Oxford, between Auden (Fitz) in his latter years and Britten (Henry). Auden has hired a rent boy, Stuart (Tim) and when

Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkl ...

(Donald) - who will write biographies of both Auden and Britten after their deaths - arrives to interview him, Auden mistakes him for Stuart. Britten has been auditioning boys for ''Death in Venice'' nearby, and arrives unexpectedly (their first meeting in 25 years after they fell out over the failure of their opera ''

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the o ...

''). He wants to discuss his misgivings about the paedophilic theme of ''

'' and the light that may cast on his own life, but Auden assumes Britten wants him to write the libretto. The characters intermittently break out of the rehearsal to discuss the play, how accurately/harshly it should treat Auden's failings, the actor's craft and many other issues raised by Auden, Britten and the play. In doing so, they reveal something of their own backgrounds.

Productions

The world premier production commenced on 5 November 2009 at the Lyttelton Theatre at the National Theatre, directed by

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include '' Miss Saigon'', ''T ...

.''The Habit of Art'', programme, The National Theatre, 2009 The play was revived in a new production by The Original Theatre Company,

York Theatre Royal York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offe ...

and Ghost Light Theatre Productions and toured the UK in late 2018.''The Habit of Art'', programme, The Original Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal and Ghost Light Theatre Productions, 2018 The music by Britten includes: ‘The Ash Grove’, ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in '' Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmil ...

'', ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

'' and '' The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra''.

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the original production of the play was generally positive. Michael Billington (''The Guardian'') said it was a ‘superbly fluid production ... and is beautifully acted’; and Charles Spenser (''The Telegraph)'' says ‘The Habit of Art is another absolute cracker, often wonderfully and sometimes filthily funny’. However, Benedict Nightingale (''The Times'') was more critical and suggested that ‘the play lacks dramatic tension’, and Andrew Billen (''New Statesman'') said that the ‘humour obscures the character of heplay’. Critics identified and examined the themes of the play: ‘a multi-levelled work that deals with sex, death, creativity, biography and much else besides’, and one in which ‘the knack of making ordinary people seem greater than they are, and revealing important people as being ordinarily human like the rest of us’ (Peter Brown, ''London Theatre''). Billington suggests that the play ‘is at its strongest when it deals with the theme implicit in its title: the idea that, for the artist, creativity is a constant, if troubling imperative’. Spenser also notes of the author that ‘there is a confidence here, a sense of a writer pushing himself to the limits ... that is hugely invigorating’. Brown says that ‘whether you’re an ardent Bennett fan or not, it’s pretty much unmissable’.

References

External links

*http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/51766/productions/the-habit-of-art.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Habit of Art, The 2009 plays Plays by Alan Bennett Metafictional plays Plays based on real people Works based on The Tempest Oxford in fiction Plays set in England