jude2348

'The Habit of Art' is the fourth in the current National Theatre live broadcast series, allowing those of us not in London to see the performances direct from the theatre. This is the third and the best I have seen. Apart from the unfortunate replacement of Michael Gambon (through illness, I understand) with Richard Griffiths, who was excellent but Gambon would have been better, there is absolutely nothing to quibble about. The play itself is brilliant: a multi-layered postmodern masterpiece, centred on a meeting between poet WH Auden and composer Benjamin Britten (Alex Jennings) in 1972, some 30 years after the failure of the opera they wrote together. But the play is not just about this meeting; it is a rehearsal of the play, so includes the stage manager - a brilliant Frances de la Tour - who steps in occasionally to read the part for an absent actor, the writer, who must field complaints about his play, and even a casual walk on from another play being performed elsewhere in the theatre complex.

Because of the intimate nature of the production, it is easily accommodated to the cameras filming the stage - much better than the earlier productions - and indeed, much thought and work have clearly gone into the filming so it is seamless and unobtrusive.

This is a play about art - the art of poetry, the art of music, the art of theatre and playwriting, and of acting. It is incredibly funny and always engrossing. If these broadcasts are ever made available on DVD, don't hesitate.

It is truly marvellous. A triumph.

This is an excellent series, covering the main art movements of Europe; it begins with the Greeks and Romans, moves through the medieval development and on to the Renaissance. The material on the modern movements is just as authoritative. Michael Wood is an enthusiastic and engaging host, and there is a good selection of experts presenting material in their areas of expertise.

The material is both accurate and comprehensive. Highly recommended. It is useful both as an introduction to the various periods and for more serious students; when I was teaching Art History, I used several episodes in the classroom.

Although there is no substitute for seeing the actual works of art, documentary series like this can be both useful and stimulating. It is available on VHS (try Amazon) but as far as I am aware not on DVD yet.

In spite of sterling work by the supporting actors, and an intelligent script by Alan Plater, this film suffers from a fatal flaw - the lack of charm of the central character/actor. One of the characters describes Richard E Grant's character as "a whining little turd" and unfortunately this sums him up perfectly. There is nothing about him or his performance to make it credible that his girlfriend and upper-class publisher/friend would spend so much time and emotional effort on him. He is rude, arrogant, selfish, self-destructive and thoroughly annoying. The part called for an actor who can make you love him even when he is being a prat - a Ewan McGregor, for example.

All of the witty satire on the class system etc was wasted, thanks to this irritating and thoroughly unlikeable performance. All I wanted to do was shake him and tell him to get over himself.