The Habit of Art

Auden often said that metre and rhyme led him down unexpected paths to thoughts he wouldn’t otherwise have had, and in this respect versification and fornication are not so different.

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 the 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.

Cast & Crew

Cast

Brian
Donald
Fitz
George
Henry
Joan
Kay
Matt
Neil
Ralph
Singer
Singer
Singer
Tim
Tom

Crew

Assistant Stage Manager
Company Voice Work
Costume Supervisor
Deputy Stage Manager
Designer
Director
Lighting Designer
Music
Sound Designer
Stage Manager

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Photographs

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Play description

“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 new 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.”
(Taken from National Theatre Oct 09 – Jan 10 leaflet)

Observations

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