Bennett play to be beamed into cinemas

LEEDS-BORN writer Alan Bennett's latest play is to be beamed live from the National Theatre in London to cinemas across the UK later this month.

By The Newsroom

Published 8th Apr 2010, 11:37 BST

Updated 8th Apr 2010, 11:37 BST

The hit production of The Habit of Art, the tale of an imaginary meeting between poet WH Auden and composer Benjamin Britten, will also be broadcast by satellite around the world.

The April 22 performance, the third National Theatre production to be screened this way, will be shown live in the UK and Europe.

It will then be shown as soon as possible afterwards in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United States.

The play, Bennett's first since his hugely successful History Boys in 2004, opened in London last November.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner , it stars Richard Griffiths as WH Auden and Alex Jennings as Benjamin Britten.