The Habit of Art: A Play

by Alan Bennett

  The probation officer or the internal censor one is always trying to outflank chimes in with Britten’s plea on behalf of constraint, which, while true to his character, is also not unsympathetic to mine. With Britten censorship was home grown, his personal policeman never off duty. Stage censorship itself was abolished in 1968, the year of my first play, so I’ve never been seriously incommoded by it. On the other hand, I regretted its abolition insofar as it seemed to me to deplete significantly the armoury of the dramatist. With censorship there was a line between what one could and couldn’t say, and the nearer one got to this line the greater the tension: How candid did one dare to be? Would the men kiss or the women fondle? After censorship went, the dramatist had to manufacture tension of his/her own.

  An author is sometimes surprised by what he or she has written. A play or a novel may start off as having nothing seemingly to do with his or her earlier work, and then as it progresses, or even long after it is finished, it can be seen to relate to themes or persons written about in previous books or plays. It was only when I was finishing the play that I realised that Stuart, the rent boy, is only the latest of a succession of not always similar characters who have found their way into my plays, beginning with my second play, Getting On, where he’s related to the young jobbing carpenter, Geoff, who is another young man who feels himself shut out (and sees sex as a way in). He in turn is fellow to the rather pathetic young man, Eric, in The Old Country, whose complaint is similar to Stuart’s (and to Leonard Bast’s in Howards End). He’s less obviously out of the same box as Coral Browne, who, visiting Guy Burgess in his seedy flat in Moscow in An Englishman Abroad, pauses by a bookshelf (oh, those bookshelves!), obviously baffled by most of its contents and even more so by Burgess’s questions about Harold Nicolson, Cyril Connolly and London literary life. The wife in Kafka’s Dick is another unmetropolitan waif, and the sports-mad Rudge in The History Boys, rather than the sensitive Posner, is the real outsider.

  I ought to be embarrassed by these recurrences and did I feel they had anything to do with me I might be. But these personages slip in through the back door or disguised as somebody else altogether and it’s only when, like Stuart, they want their say and make a plea for recognition and acknowledgement that I realise the uninvited guest is here again.

  I ought to know who this figure is, but I’m not sure that I do. Is he myself as a young man at Oxford baffled by the academic world? Is he one of the young actors in my first play, Forty Years On, many of whom I feared would have wasted lives? Is he even one of the procession of young actors who have auditioned over the years to play such parts and who have had to be sent away disappointed?

  Some of the yearning felt in this play by Stuart in the houses of his clientele reflects my own wonder as an undergraduate going to tutorials in the vast Victorian houses of North Oxford. I was there on a different, and more legitimate, errand from Stuart, but to see a wall covered in books was an education in itself, though visual and aesthetic as much as intellectual. Books do furnish a room and some of these rooms had little else, but there in a corner the don under a lamp. Sometimes, though, there would be paintings, and occasionally more pictures than I’d ever seen on one wall, together with vases, urns, pottery and other relics – real nests of a scholarly life. And there were wonders, too: drinking soup, once, from fifteenth-century Apostle spoons, medieval embroideries thrown over chair backs, a plaque in the hall that might be by Della Robbia.

  These days I think of such houses when I go to museums like the Ashmolean or the Fitzwilliam, where the great masterpieces are plumped out with the fruits of bequests from umpteen academic households: paintings (particularly in the Fitzwilliam), antiquities, treasures brought back from Egypt and Italy in more franchised days than ours, squirrelled away up Norham Road and Park Town, the components of what Stuart rightly sees as a world from which he will forever be excluded – and from which I felt excluded, too, though with less reason.

  Acknowledgements

  Early on in the writing process I asked Mari Prichard’s permission to include her late husband, Humphrey Carpenter, as a character. She and her family have been both generous and forbearing…and forgiving, too. As I’ve explained in the introduction, Carpenter deserves a play to himself, but without his biographies of Auden and Britten mine could not have been written.

  I should also thank Libby Purves for her recollections of Carpenter, David Vaisey for his help with Oxford topography, and Patrick Garland and Michael Berkeley for their memories of Auden and Britten respectively, Patrick being one of the few people to have been in the flat that is depicted on the stage.

  I am, as always, indebted to Nicholas Hytner for his initial encouragement and help with the text, even if this time we’ve had more to-ing and fro-ing than usual. Though he carries the whole burden of the National Theatre, he never brings any of its inevitable problems into the rehearsal room. That there are other plays in production or in prospect one might never guess, and I’m sure the actors appreciate this as much as I do. I am grateful to them, too, and particularly to Richard Griffiths, who took on the role of Auden at short notice. One of the blessings of working at the National Theatre is its ample rehearsal schedule; circumstances made ours less ample but they were no less enjoyable for that.

  Alan Bennett, November 2009

  The Habit of Art was first performed in the Lyttelton auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 5 November 2009. The cast was as follows:

  Fitz (W. H. Auden) Richard Griffiths

  Henry (Benjamin Britten) Alex Jennings

  Donald (Humphrey Carpenter) Adrian Scarborough

  Tim (Stuart) Stephen Wight

  Charlie Laurence Belcher/Otto Farrant/Toby Graham

  Brian Philip Childs

  Author Elliot Levey

  Kay Frances de la Tour

  ASM John Heffernan

  Joan Barbara Kirby

  Matt Danny Burns

  Ralph Martin Chamberlain

  Tom Tom Attwood

  Director Nicholas Hytner

  Designer Bob Crowley

  Lighting Designer Mark Henderson

  Music Matthew Scott

  Sound Designer Paul Groothuis

  Characters

  Fitz

  (W. H. Auden)

  Henry

  (Benjamin Britten)

  Donald

  (Humphrey Carpenter)

  Tim

  (Stuart)

  Charlie

  singer

  Brian

  (originally Boyle)

  Author

  (Neil)

  Kay

  Stage Manager

  Assistant Stage Manager

  (George)

  Joan

  chaperone

  Matt

  sound

  Ralph

  dresser

  Tom

  rehearsal pianist

  THE HABIT OF ART

  Part One

  Afternoon. A large rehearsal room in the National Theatre. Already set up is the interior of the Brewhouse, Christ Church, Oxford, lodgings into which W. H. Auden had moved in 1972. There are a couple of easy chairs, a cluttered kitchen unit and piles of books and papers on every available surface. The room is a mess.

  Above the room and set back from it is another stage on which is a grand piano. George, the ASM, is checking props when Donald, who is playing Humphrey Carpenter, enters, and murmurs to him. The ASM takes Donald’s script in order to prompt him.

  Carpenter (hesitantly) I want to hear about the shortcomings of great men, their fears and their failings. I’ve had enough of their vision, how they altered the landscape. We stand on their shoulders to survey our lives. So. (As Donald.)…Yes?

  ASM (prompting) ‘So let’s talk about…’

  Carpenter So let’s talk about the vanity. (He quickens up.) This one, the connoisseur of emptiness, is tipped for the Nobel Prize yet still needs to win at Monopoly. That playwright’s skin is so thin he can feel pain on the o
ther side of the world…so why is he deaf to the suffering next door? Er…

  ASM ‘Proud of his modesty…’

  Carpenter Yes. Proud of his modesty, this one gives frequent, rare interviews in which he aggregates praise and denudes others of credit. Artists celebrated for their humanity, they turn out to be scarcely human at all.

  ASM I thought Stephen had cut all this?

  Donald He has…which is fine by me, only I just feel, like, the play needs it. You know?

  ASM Yeah.

  The cast filter in while Kay, the Stage Manager, in her fifties, sets up for the rehearsal of the play, Caliban’s Day. Fitz (who will play Auden) is in his sixties and Henry (who will play Britten) is slightly younger.

  Fitz Am I smoking this afternoon?

  ASM Is Fitz smoking this afternoon?

  Kay Tomorrow, we decided.

  Fitz, who is putting on carpet slippers, pulls a face.

  Fitz Worth a try.

  Donald My speech about biography…

  Kay (waving him away) I’m doing the setup, love.

  Tim (who will play Stuart) comes in wheeling his bike, helmeted and in Lycra etc.

  He changes. He’s in his twenties.

  Tim Afternoon.

  Also entering now are Charlie (a child of ten), absorbed in his Nintendo, Joan (his chaperone), Matt (sound operator) and Tom (rehearsal pianist).

  Kay (who has seen it all before) We’re minus Penny.

  Fitz Oh. No Penny.

  Kay And Brian. Both in the Chekhov matinee.

  Fitz Is she? I don’t remember her.

  ASM Cough and a spit.

  Kay I’ll read in for Penny. Henry, can you read Boyle?

  Henry Will do.

  Kay And George.

  ASM Yeah!

  Kay You do the rest.

  ASM Oh, great!

  Fitz That’s all very well, but no Penny means no cake. You can answer this, Henry.

  Tom Coffee, Fitz?

  Fitz Why is it that whoever’s got the smallest part is the one who brings in the cakes to rehearsal?

  Henry Because they’re still human beings?

  Fitz You see, in my whole life in the theatre I have never brought in a cake. Look at him, they say in the canteen; there is an actor who has never brought in a cake.

  He was in Coriolanus. No cake.

  He was in Henry VI Parts One, Two and Three. No cake.

  He was in The Birthday Party. No cake.

  The phone rings on the stage management table.

  Kay (on the phone) Hello?…Leeds!

  Fitz The first production I was in here, I was painted bright blue.

  Pause.

  I was an Ancient Briton.

  Kay Oh precious! LEEDS!

  Henry I’ve been painted pink.

  Kay (to various people) LEEDS!!

  ASM Pink! What was that in?

  Henry Hospital. I had scabies.

  Kay Very good, darling. (Puts phone down.) Bad news, people. The director cannot be with us. Even as we speak Stephen is on his way to Leeds, having forgotten he was due to host a conference.

  Henry What on?

  Kay The relevance of theatre in the provinces.

  Fitz Good. So we can go home.

  Kay What Stephen suggests we do is run the play…

  Enter Neil, the Author.

  Henry Shit.

  Fitz What?

  Henry indicates the new arrival.

  Oh fuck.

  Kay What Stephen suggests we do – hello, darling – is run the play with those of us who are still a little uncertain of the text, Fitz, paying particular attention to the words which I’m sure we would want to do anyway if only out of courtesy to our author, who has just joined us. Good afternoon, Neil. Where’ve you been, darling? We’ve missed you.

  Author Newcastle, actually.

  Fitz Newcastle? Really? What were you doing there? It’s all vomit and love bites.

  Author I was judging.

  Fitz Malefactors?

  Author Playwrights, actually.

  Pause.

  Fitz I am saying nothing.

  Kay Now, Fitz, have you your slippers?

  Fitz (displaying them) I have. I also have my prosthetic cigarettes, my elephantine urine-stained trousers, my disgusting handkerchief and my plastic bag. The question is, have we got the mask?

  Author What mask?

  Kay gives Author a wide smile and carries on.

  ASM The mask is coming.

  Fitz They’ve been saying that for the last week.

  Tim (whispering to the ASM) Will I be doing the – (seeing Charlie and whispering) sucking-off?

  ASM Will we be doing the sucking-off?

  Author Sucking-off? What scene is that?

  Kay silences him with an uplifted hand.

  Kay Darling, can we not play it by ear?

  Fitz Ear?

  Kay indicates Charlie.

  Sorry. Though these days they probably know more about it than we do. All right, Charlie?

  Charlie nods without looking up from his game.

  Kay Right, everybody? Charlie, are you all right? Is Charlie all right?

  Joan (reading) Charlie’s fine.

  Author (to Kay) Sucking-off?

  Fitz If we’re starting, I suppose I should have gone to the loo, but it’s so far.

  Henry Far? There’s one just outside.

  Fitz No, I can’t use that. I don’t like to be overheard. In the whole of this bloody building there is only one loo I can use.

  Henry Which one is that?

  Fitz I’m not going to tell you. You might start using it.

  Kay OK, everybody.

  Author Where’s Stephen?

  Donald (indicating speech) Kay?

  Kay (to Donald) Your speech, love. I know. I haven’t forgotten.

  Kay’s attention to Donald (playing Humphrey Carpenter) should already signal that Donald is high maintenance.

  Running Act One. Ready! LIGHTS UP!

  Auden and Carpenter are listening to the love duet from Tristan and Isolde on the record player.

  Carpenter When you were singing that as a child, were you aware that your mother was taking the part of Tristan and you were singing Isolde?

  Auden Oh yes.

  Carpenter And were you aware of the implications?

  Auden I was. I’m not sure she was. My father made no comment. He was a doctor.

  Carpenter I am talking this evening with Mr W. H. Auden, formerly Professor of Poetry at the University and newly returned to Christ Church.

  Auden Am I addressing the nation?

  Carpenter Radio Oxford.

  Auden Why poets should be interviewed I can’t think. A writer is not a man of action. His private life is or should be of no concern to anyone except himself, his family and his friends. The rest is impertinence. Yes?

  ASM (prompting) ‘I was once rung from Hollywood…’

  Fitz, playing Auden, should keep correcting himself…and occasionally be prompted. He is far from word perfect.

  Auden I was once rung from Hollywood by Miss Bette Davis. She said, ‘Mr Auden, I’ve just been reading one of your poems.’ I said, ‘I’m glad to hear it, madam, but it’s two o’clock in the morning,’ and put the phone down.

  Chester has never forgiven me.

  Pause.

  Chester is my partner. Is that the word you use?

  Carpenter People do.

  Auden You can’t be arrested for using it?

  Carpenter shakes his head.

  Not even in England? Progress.

  Fitz (to Author) People will know, author, this is 1972?

  Author If they have any intelligence.

  Fitz Because you couldn’t be arrested for having a partner in 1972.

  Author Auden is being ironic. He means it and he doesn’t mean it.

  Fitz Yes. I know what irony means.

  Henry (on the upper stage) Actually, you could be arrested for having a partner in 1954, which is why t
he police interviewed Britten.

  Fitz Yes. All right.

  Henry And 1972 wasn’t such a paradise either. ‘How old are you? How old was he?’ They don’t let up that easily.

  Kay On we go.

  Henry Someone was had up only last week.

  Donald Thank you!

  Carpenter (throws a black look at Henry) Benjamin Britten is in Oxford today.

  Auden says nothing.

  Auditioning choirboys. You worked together?

  Auden still says nothing.

  In the thirties?

  Auden I know when it was. Why?

  Carpenter I wondered whether there was a programme in it. You and him, collaborating.

  Auden That would come under impertinence, I think. My business not yours, though collaborate we did and very happy it was, too.

  On the upper stage Britten is at the piano with a chapel acoustic. A boy standing beside him sings a verse from ‘The Shepherd’s Carol’ (‘O lift your little pinkie and touch the evening sky / Love’s all over the mountains where the beautiful go to die’).

  Britten (over song) Don’t make it sound too polite. ‘O lift your little pinkie.’ Good. Very good. (Music ends.)