Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At 59E59 Theaters, Alan Bennett’s THE HABIT OF ART humanizes Auden and Britten (and theater-making)

• By drediman
• May 16, 2023
• No Comments

Currently over at 59E59 Theaters, you’ll be able to catch Original Theatre’s production of The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett (a playwright perhaps best known for penning the award-winning play The History Boys). The 2009 work — one of the headliners of this year’s Brits Off Broadway season — tells the story of a theater troupe rehearsing a play about two titans of British arts and culture, poet W. H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten. Suffice to say, with its deep fascination with these cultural figures, Bennett’s decidedly “high brow” play is likely to satisfy the Anglophiles among us.

At heart, The Habit of Art is a witty and insistently humanizing portrait of two aging artists — to be sure, both established and respected bastions of literature and music — as they continue to create (the “habit” of art) well into the twilight of their respective careers. By taking these two giants down from the pedestal and frankly examining them from all angles — including their frailties and desires (both have had to navigate, under public scrutiny, their life and work as gay men) — the playwright has de-mythologized them, in the process making both of them and their art more accessible. And by adding the meta-theatrical element of presenting them as characters within a play in rehearsal, Bennett also puts a human face on the alchemy and tricky act of theater-making.

Because of its meta-theatrical layers and frequent obscure references, The Habit of Art isn’t an easy play to pull off successfully. Luckily, Original Theatre’s production is outstanding. Directed by Philip Franks with a firm hand and acted by an excellent ensemble cast (especially memorable is Matthew Kelly who vacillates expertly between portraying W. H. Auden and Fitz, the actor playing the poet), the revival gives American audiences the rare opportunity to appreciate Bennett’s play – in my estimation an equal to The History Boys – in its full glory.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE HABIT OF ART
Off-Broadway, Play
Original Theatre at 59E59 Theaters
2 hours, 10 minutes (including an intermission)
Through May 28