Plays within plays are always intriguing. You watch actors in the first place pretending to be people they aren’t, and then proceeding to play characters in a second fictional universe. The collision of both aspects of the play often creates fascinating intellectual friction. Such is the case with Alan Bennett’s “The Habit of Art.” In the production at Studio Theatre, smoothly directed by David Muse, all elements click together precisely.
The premiseis that in 1972, a company of actors at the National Theatre of Great Britain is rehearsing a play called “Caliban’s Day.” The director is out of town, so the stage manager (Margaret Daly) takes over for him. The author (Wynn Harmon) has stopped by and is astonished to find some changes have been made to his script.
| Onstage |
| ‘The Habitat of Art’ |
| Where: Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St., N.W. |
| When: Through October 16 |
| Info: $35 to $69; 202-332-3300; studiotheatre.org |
Before and during the rehearsal, Bennett manages to contemplate the business of theater, the trials and tribulations of playwrights, actors and just about everyone associated with putting on plays.
But the real meat is found in the work that is being rehearsed. “Caliban’s Day” imagines a meeting between two old men who used to be friends and collaborators: composer Benjamin Britten and poet W. H. Auden.
Henry/Britten (Paxton Whitehead) is stuck in the process of writing what will be his last opera, and now, after a separation of twenty-five years, seeks out Auden. The meeting is an occasion for the two to talk about themselves, their relationship and their art. Whitehead is touching as the gentle, wry, self-critical Britten.
The character of Fitz/Auden (Ted van Griethuysen) is much broader and more expansive than that of the Britten character. He reveals himself, his likes and dislikes, artistic, gustatory and sexual, from the moment “Caliban” begins. He is opinionated, self-interested, autocratic, witty, impossible. Van Griethuysen gives a stellar performance as the brilliant writer who understood the virtues of silliness as well as the effects of complicated meter.
The actors are all excellent. Cameron Folmar is particularly fine as the biographer who comes to interview Auden for the BBC.
With its ability to convincingly portray these two departed great men, “The Habit of Art” is both entertaining and profound. As Bennett makes Auden and Britten offer up their perspectives on poetry, youth, music, old age, love, martinis and desire, the very souls of those creative geniuses are presented affectionately and honestly, perhaps offering up a deeper, more personal perspective than any biography ever could.
