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80% Critic Match
National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
8.0 / 10• 2010• 2h 25m•NR• English
DramaComedy
Storyline
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".
Cast & Crew
Richard Griffiths
Fitz / W. H. Auden
Lead
Alex Jennings
Henry / Benjamin Britten
Frances de la Tour
Kay
Stephen Wight
Tim / Stuart
PC
Philip Childs
Brian
Elliot Levey
Neil
John Heffernan
George
BK
Barbara Kirby
Joan
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Nicholas Hytner's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
