The Habit of Art

by Stephanie Green

It’s a rare treat to find a piece of theatre that’s as simultaneously provocative and playful as “The Habit of Art” making its U. S. premiere at the Studio Theatre this fall.  But that’s the beauty of this work: It’s not so much a play as a conversation. Fortunately for the audience, the conversation about the play’s subject will continue long after they have left the theatre.

No doubt it’s highbrow. This 2009 London hit written by Alan Bennett follows a group of actors and their beleaguered behind the scenes colleagues as they rehearse a play about the poet W.H. Auden and his reunion with the composer Benjamin Britten.

The show delves into the process of acting and writing, aging and personal identity, biography, and the social mores that influenced Auden’s and Britten’s homosexual relationships, but this play, despite its ponderous themes, never seems to take itself too seriously.  An exchange about the artistic differences between writing a poem and an opera will be peppered with toilet humor, or another jaunty joke to keep your funny bone and thinking cap equally aroused.

The show runs through October 16. Tickets and information here.