The History Boys by Alan Bennett has won numerous accolades in its time as well as being made into a film.
Photo © Marc Brenner
It is an examination of the education system and a group of pupils who are fighting for their identity and place in the world. This production, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the play, is in Bath before touring.
We meet the boys on A-Level results day at Cutler’s Grammar School in 1980s Sheffield.
Eight unruly teenagers burst into adulthood with the best grades their school has ever seen and their sights set on something higher: to study at the most famous academic institutions in the world such as Oxford and Cambridge. But their teachers can’t agree on how best to tutor them.
There’s Hector, the maverick English teacher who believes in culture for its own sake; Irwin, the shrewd supply teacher, Felix an obnoxious headmaster obsessed with league tables, and Mrs Lintott – the History teacher who thinks her colleagues are all fools.
The pupils are excellent, each creating characters which are full of questions and facing the challenges of being on the brink of adulthood. This production is full of 80s music and choreographed sequences around the ever revolving piece of staging. The boys are responsible for all of this, including a rendition of Stand and Deliver at the top of Act 2.
The music is well sung and the depth of talent of the boys is evident, but this holds up the pace and their vibrant enthusiasm and energy minimises the impact of the adult cast.
Gillian Bevan as Mrs. Lintott brings the frustrations of women in history to the fore with an excellent speech and her dry delivery is welcome. Lewis Cornay as Posner is excellent and holds the audience throughout.
Simon Rouse as Hector is the idealistic teacher, allowing all sorts of expression in his class whilst choosing various boys to be his pillion passenger home. The nature of the abuse is known yet it is hard to understand what the attraction is for the pupils.
The play is as valid today as it was in 2004; it is depressing that some of the story lines are still current and the drive for the Head to worry about results rather than a predatory teacher is no doubt happening across education today.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
