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The Habit of Art
27th November 2018 - 1st December 2018
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The Original Theatre Company and York Theatre Royal present
Alan Bennett’s
The Habit of Art
Directed by Philip Franks
Starring Matthew Kelly and David Yelland
★★★★★ “I thought it unlikely that Alan Bennett would be able to equal the success of The History Boys (2004) but The Habit of Art is another absolute cracker, often wonderfully and sometimes filthily funny, but also deeply and unexpectedly moving.” Daily Telegraph (reviewing the original 2009 production)
Alan Bennett is one our greatest and most celebrated playwrights, with a cavalcade of stage and screen blockbusters including The History Boys, The Madness of King George and Talking Heads. He is applauded as a genius for his sharp character observations and treasured for the way he beautifully balances wit, wistfulness and compassion.
In The Habit of Art, Bennett gives us a play about a meeting between the poet WH Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten.
Exploring friendship, rivalry and heartache this multi layered masterpiece examines the joy, pain and emotional cost of creativity.
This production directed by Philip Franks marks the first ever revival of the play and stars the Olivier Award winning Matthew Kelly (Of Mice and Men, Toast and Pride and Prejudice) as Fitz (W. H. Auden) and David Yelland (Chariots of Fire and The Crown) as Henry (Benjamin Britten). Veronica Roberts will be joining the cast in the role of Kay, the Stage Manager. Robert Mountford plays the Author, Neil. John Wark will play Donald (Humphrey Carpenter). Alexandra Guelff plays the role of George, the Assistant Stage Manager. Benjamin Chandler has been cast as Tim (Stuart).
★★★★★ Broadway World
★★★★ The Times
★★★★ Libby Purves, theatreCat.com
★★★★ “Deeply moving.” The Guardian
“Hilariously provocative.” The Independent
Ages 14+: strong language/adult themes
Production Photographs by Helen Maybanks
Ticket price includes a £1 contribution to our heritage fund.
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Event Reviews
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Les
Yet Another Triumphant night with Habit of Art with Mathew Kelly putting in a star performance Along with David Yellend and a strong supporting cast in this play within a play By Alan Bennett.
This witty and amusing and sometimes emotional flowed wonderfully, its one you must see and enjoy. -
Ann
We were so looking forward to this production - a combination of Alan Bennett, Matthew Kelly, David Yelland looked to be perfect. What a shame so much emphasis was placed upon WH Auden and his alleged relationships with ‘rentboys’. The relationship between Auden and Britten was far more interesting yet nothing was mentioned of their collaboration on Paul Bunyan and why they fell out for 25 years.
