by Alan Bennett
First published 2009
Rehearsals for a new play about the poet W.H. Auden dredge up long-buried secrets. As an eccentric director and a temperamental leading man clash, the playwright's own troubled history comes into focus. Haunted by a youthful indiscretion, he must confront a past he'd rather forget. In this wry, poignant play-within-a-play, the creative process lays bare the human frailties that even the greatest artists struggle to overcome.
Genres: drama, 20th-century, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: haunted-by-the-past, troubled-history
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
88 pages · Paperback · Faber & Faber-