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March 15, 2010
Lensic Presents NT LIVE: The Habit of Art

Lensic Presents

NT LIVE:
THE HABIT OF ART
A live performance from the UK’s National Theatre broadcast to 330 cinemas worldwide

‘Another absolute cracker, often wonderfully and sometimes filthily funny, but also deeply
and unexpectedly moving’ - Daily Telegraph on THE HABIT OF ART

Santa Fe, NM – The Lensic Performing Arts Center presents Alan Bennett’s highly acclaimed new play THE HABIT OF ART, directed by Nicholas Hytner, filmed live at the National Theatre in London on Thursday, April 22, and broadcast by satellite to cinemas worldwide.

THE HABIT OF ART is as much about the theater as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men - Benjamin Britten and W H Auden - and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station.

The cast is led by Richard Griffiths (as WH Auden), Alex Jennings (Benjamin Britten), Adrian Scarborough (Humphrey Carpenter) and Frances de la Tour (Kay the Stage Manager).

THE HABIT OF ART is Alan Bennett’s fifth play for the National Theatre. His last play, The History Boys, opened at the Lyttelton in 2004, toured nationally and internationally, played in the West End and on Broadway, and was adapted for the screen. Among its many awards were the Laurence Olivier, Tony and Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, and the South Bank Show Award for Theatre.

NT Live performances are filmed live at the National Theatre in high definition and broadcast via satellite to over 330 cinemas and performing arts centers around the world, live in Europe and some US cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield. The pilot season of NT Live began in June with the hugely successful broadcast of Phèdre with Helen Mirren, which was seen by 50,000 people in 19 countries around the globe. NT Live screenings in international venues, including the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Scandinavia and Europe, are supported by Travelex, the world’s foreign exchange and business payments specialist.

Please note: THE HABIT OF ART contains strong language and sexual references. In the U.S. the film warrants an “R” rating.

THE HABIT OF ART PRESS QUOTES

?Daily Telegraph: I can think of few plays that combine wild laughter, deep emotion and technical ingenuity with such bravura. The Habit of Art is a smash hit if ever I saw one… Alex Jennings is superb… Frances de la Tour, as the stage manager and Adrian Scarborough as the biographer Humphrey Carpenter, give performances of comic perfection.

Independent: Bennett the maestro returns with a multi-layered masterpiece… Richard Griffiths is superlative.
Mail on Sunday: The glorious quality of the writing – brimming with humanity and humour – and Nicholas Hytner’s flawless production carry you along in a wave of pleasure.

Guardian: A superbly fluid production by Nicholas Hytner is beautifully acted… a deeply moving play.

Observer: A tsunami of jokes, a tidal wave of argumentative statements, a gorgeous gust of opinion.

Sunday Times: A richly thought-provoking piece… deft, amusing and so intelligently and generously crafted that it makes you feel clever just watching it.?

The National Theatre
The National Theatre, founded in 1963, and established on the South Bank of the River Thames in London in 1976, has three theatres – the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Cottesloe. It presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory (sharing the stages) at any one time. Actors often appear in more than one play during a season; for example Elliott Levey, who appears in The Habit of Art, also appeared in All’s Well That Ends Well (broadcast as part of NT Live in October 2009). The National aims constantly to re-energize the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike, and aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the nation’s culture. With its extensive program of Platform performances, backstage tours, foyer music, exhibitions, and free outdoor entertainment the National recognizes that the theatre doesn’t begin and end with the rise and fall of the curtain. By touring – and now, NT Live - it shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad. The first NT Live season has aimed to capture the diversity of the National’s work: a classic tragedy, a Shakespeare, a family show and a new play (The Habit of Art).

Event Details:
The Lensic Performing Arts Center presents National Theatre of London in HD - The Habit of Art, April 22 at 7 p.m.

Ticket Info: $22; $15 for Lensic members
Tickets are available through the Tickets Santa Fe box office located at The Lensic at 211 W. San Francisco St. in Santa Fe, open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. The box office is open on Sundays from 12 p.m. until show time and is closed if there is no show. Tickets can be charged by phone by calling Tickets Santa Fe at The Lensic at 505.988.1234 or purchased online at www.TicketsSantaFe.org.

Press Information: Please contact Emily Crawford, Director of PR & Marketing, to arrange for photos at 505-988-7050 ext. 211 or ecrawford@lensic.org. For further information or photos about NT Live and THE HABIT OF ART, please contact Jennifer Reynolds, National Theatre on 0044 (0)20 7452 3233 or jreynolds@nationaltheatre.org.uk.

About The Lensic Artistic Presentations
Since 2001, the nonprofit Lensic Performing Arts Center has presented and produced artistic performances in the renovated and historic Lensic Theater. The Lensic’s year-round programming is integral to fulfilling the organizational mission to present local, national and international artists in diversified, cross-cultural performances. Since its opening, The Lensic has increased its independent production and presentation schedule, which includes the Lensic Presents Series, a year-round effort to present diverse programming that showcases national talent.

Notes to editors:

THE HABIT OF ART - CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Fitz (WH Auden) RICHARD GRIFFITHS
Henry (Benjamin Britten) ALEX JENNINGS
Donald (Humphrey Carpenter) ADRIAN SCARBOROUGH
Tim (Stuart) STEPHEN WIGHT
Charlie (Singer) LAURENCE BELCHER
Brian (originally Boyle) PHILIP CHILDS

Neil (Author) ELLIOTT LEVEY
Kay (Stage Manager) FRANCES DE LA TOUR
George (Assistant Stage Manager) JOHN HEFFERNAN
Joan (Chaperone) BARBARA KIRBY
Matt (Sound) DANNY BURNS
Ralph (Dresser) MARTIN CHAMBERLAIN
Tom (Rehearsal Pianist) TOM ATTWOOD

Director NICHOLAS HYTNER
Designer BOB CROWLEY
Lighting Designer MARK HENDERSON
Music MATTHEW SCOTT
Sound Designer PAUL GROOTHIUS
Company Voice Work KATE GODFREY

Length: 2 hours 25 minutes, including 20-minute interval, plus a 15-minute pre-show.

BIOGRAPHIES

Richard Griffiths created the role of Hector in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys at the NT, on international tour, on Broadway and on film, winning the Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle, Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor.  His film and television work includes the Harry Potter films, Withnail and I, Pie in the Sky, Gormenghast and Bleak House.

Alex Jennings is an NT Associate. His recent appearances at the National include: Present Laughter, The Alchemist, Stuff Happens and His Girl Friday. His film and TV appearances include the role of the Prince of Wales in The Queen alongside Helen Mirren, and Reverend Hutton in BBC TV series Cranford.

Frances de la Tour last appeared at the National in The History Boys (also on Broadway and on screen). She is perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the TV sitcom Rising Damp (for which she won an Evening Standard Best Actress Award), and more recently for creating the role of Madame Olympe Maxime in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Adrian Scarborough’s work in theatre includes 18 productions for the National, including Time and the Conways, Henry IV Parts I & II, The False Servant, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Hare Trilogy, The Day I Stood Still and The Wind in the Willows. TV audiences will know him as Pete Sutcliffe in BBC TV series Gavin and Stacey.

Four of Alan Bennett’s plays have previously premiered at the National Theatre: The History Boys, The Madness of George III, an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows and Single Spies (a double bill comprising An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution). His many other stage plays include Forty Years On, Habeas Corpus, Kafka’s Dick and The Lady in the Van. His screenplays include The History Boys, The Madness of King George (nominated for two Oscars), A Private Function and Prick Up Your Ears. He has written extensively for television, notably his award-winning collection of monologues, Talking Heads – several of which have also been staged.

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, Rafta, Rafta… , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People Very Nice, Phèdre, The Habit of Art and London Assurance. His credits as a film director include The Madness of King George, The Crucible and The History Boys.

TRAVELEX
NT Live is supported internationally by Travelex.

Lloyd Dorfman, Chairman of Travelex, says: “We’re enormously proud to be part of NT Live – the result of a seven-year partnership with the National Theatre. Day-to-day, Travelex is committed to helping connect people and businesses across the globe. We really hope that this initiative makes world class theatre accessible on a truly worldwide scale.”

Travelex is the world's foreign exchange and business payments specialist. With operations spanning 35 countries, the business operates three divisions focusing on retail foreign exchange, crossborder business payments and outsourcing partnerships.?

The company serves a customer every other second and, through an expansive network covering 115 airports, has a global annual audience of 1.8bn people.