The Original Theatre Company’s revival of The Habit Of Art by Alan Bennett should have begun a national tour at the end of March after which it was scheduled to play a season in New York but due to lockdown both of these tours were cancelled. Thankfully, Original Theatre filmed the production and it is now available to watch, for the price of a small donation on the company’s website.
With The Habit Of Art, Bennett set out to write a conventional play about the poet W H Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten but after several drafts wrote something very different. What Bennett created instead is a play that operates brilliantly on several intriguing and entertaining levels. Key to this is the use of a play within a play device that cleverly frames the action and gives Bennett full reign to examine how Auden and Britain cultured the habit of making great art.
The play begins with a group of actors rehearsing, Caliban’s Day, a new play about a fictional meeting between Auden and Britten set at Oxford University in 1972. It is the first time that the actors have rehearsed without their scripts and one of the actors, Fitz, a cantankerous, elderly thesp who plays Auden is unsure of his lines and has issues with both the play and its feckless writer. The play within the play is told from the perspective of Humphrey Carpenter, a well-known biographer of both Auden and Britten who weaves in and out of the action as a self-appointed storyteller. What makes this play so enjoyable to watch is the interplay that takes place between the actors in the rehearsal room which mirrors to a large extent how their characters behave in the play within the play.
Auden and Britten lived most of their lives in a society that criminalised homosexuality. As gay men they sought gratification in very different ways, Auden by paying rent boys for sex and Britten by admiring and venerating young male singers. Neil the writer of Caliban’s Day, is passionate about giving these so called “boys of art”, a voice in the play. Shortly before the fictional meeting of Auden and Britten is due to take place Neil introduces Stuart, a Rent boy who is played by an actor who is concerned that he is too old to play the part. The dynamic that develops between Stuart and Auden as they talk openly about sex and art leads to intense follow up discussions in the rehearsal room which delightfully adds to the multi-layered narrative. This makes the play an utter joy to watch and one of the most complete, enjoyable and satisfying theatrical experiences, (albeit it on a TV screen), that I have had for a long time.
This production is near perfect; Philip Franks directs his cast with a masterly touch, every moment of comedy, high drama and pathos is beautifully pointed and underscored. Matthew Kelly as Fitz/Auden and David Yelland as Britten exude a natural authority and stage presence that one has come to expect from these experienced and highly skilled actors. They switch effortlessly between the contrasting worlds of the rehearsal room and the play within the play. Their performances are masterclasses in verboseness and expert comic timing (Kelly), and quiet dignified, respectful restraint, (Yelland). The supporting cast are excellent too, especially John Wark as Humphrey Carpenter and Benjamin Chandler as Stuart both are hugely impressive and make a lasting impression.
Adrian Linford’s rehearsal room set, reminiscent of many church and village halls, complete with imposing, towering windows and anonymous strip lights is a triumph and will resonate with anyone who has spent endless hours rehearsing in one. With the benefit of TV close-ups one is able to admire the exquisite detail of Linford’s set that is dotted everywhere with the detritus of actors' daily lives. It’s the kind of set that you want to be able to get up on stage and move around in. Johanna Town’s evocative lighting perfectly captures the moods and tensions of the real and imagined worlds providing a perfect balance between the two.
Alistair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre has called putting The Habit Of Art online an opportunity for the company to show, ‘our own theatre without walls.’ Watching this production not only provides two hours of first class, high quality entertainment but will hopefully enable the company, which receives no public subsidy, to survive lockdown and beyond.
To view the Original Theatre Company’s production of The Habit Of Art please click on the following:https://www.originaltheatreonline.com/
Reviewer - Richard Hall
on - 6/5/20
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