Matthew Kelly and David Yelland to star in Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art UK tour

Casting has been announced for Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art, which embarks on a UK tour beginning at York Theatre Royal in August.

Matthew Kelly will play WH Auden/Fitz alongside David Yelland as Benjamin Britten/Henry in this play-within-a-play about a fictional meeting between the poet and composer.

The piece premiered at the National Theatre in 2009, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour.

Kelly’s West End credits include Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellan, Tim Firth’s Sign of the Times, and Of Mice and Men for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. Yelland’s most recent theatre credits include Witness for the Prosecution (London County Hall), A Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Taken at Midnight (Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket).

The production will be directed by Philip Franks with design by Adrian Linford and lighting by Johanna Town.

The Habit of Art runs at York Theatre Royal from 30 August to 8 September before touring to Brighton, Salisbury, Guildford, Ipswich, Richmond, Coventry, Salford and Southend.