The History Boys

The History Boys
Written by	Alan Bennett
Characters	Headmaster Hector Irwin Mrs. Lintott Akthar Crowther Dakin Lockwood Posner Rudge Scripps Timms
Date premiered	18 May 2004
Place premiered	Lyttelton Theatre London, England
Original language	English
Subject	An unruly bunch of bright, funny boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university
Genre	Drama
Setting	1980s; Cutlers' Grammar School, Sheffield
Official site
Playbill listing
IBDB profile

The History Boys is a play by English playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.

Characters

• Headmaster (Felix Armstrong) - Headmaster of Cutlers' Grammar School, Sheffield
• Douglas Hector - English/General Studies teacher
• Irwin - History teacher; brought in as a special coach
• Mrs Dorothy Lintott - History teacher

• Akthar - Pupil; of Asian ancestry, Muslim
• Crowther - Pupil
• Dakin - Pupil; handsome, object of Posner's affection
• Lockwood - Pupil
• Posner - Pupil; youngest, gay and Jewish
• Rudge - Pupil; better known for athletic skills than for intelligence
• Scripps - Pupil; Anglican, plays piano
• Timms - Pupil

• Director on Irwin's television programme (a small role)

The following are non-speaking roles:

• Make-Up Woman, Production team - on Irwin's television show
• Three or four unidentified MP's - spoken to by Irwin in opening scene
• Other male pupils (optional, can help with scene changes and/or play piano if the actor cast as Scripps cannot)
• Fiona - Headmaster's secretary; object of Dakin's affection/lust. Does not appear onstage in the published text, but was seen in filmed projections during the original production

Plot synopsis

The action of the play takes place in Cutlers' Grammar School, Sheffield, a fictional boys' grammar school in the north of England. Set in the early 1980s, the play follows a group of history pupils preparing for the Oxbridge entrance examinations under the guidance of three teachers (Hector, Irwin and Lintott) with contrasting styles.

Irwin teaches the boys an essay style consisting of brisk generalities flavoured with sufficient facts and quotations to engage the examiner's interest. He teaches the boys to find a (sometimes controversial) angle on a point in history and find evidence to support it, enabling the student to support an unorthodox, distinctive and less than truthful perspective of history. He believes the truth is irrelevant when it comes to finding a stance that will make his pupils stand out in the eyes of the examination board. This method is one of 'false pretences', which Bennett felt he had had to teach himself in order to succeed in examinations, an academic pursuit with which he constantly had trouble. Hector, by contrast, wishes to teach knowledge, especially English Literature, for its own intrinsic value, hoping his students will benefit greatly from his influence. He wants the boys to become cultured, rounded human beings and believes that Irwin's contrived methods are practically indecent. Exams are the enemy of all that he stands for.

Productions

Royal National Theatre

The play opened at the Lyttelton Theatre (part of the National Theatre) in London on 18 May 2004 where it played to sell-out audiences and its limited run was frequently extended. On 24 November 2005, the same production was revived once again at the Lyttelton Theatre where it played another successful run, the original cast reuniting in the final week in February 2006.

International Tour

Following closing in London, the National Theatre production toured to Hong Kong in February 2006 and featured in the 2006 New Zealand International Arts Festival held in Wellington (February 2006) before playing at the Sydney Theatre in Sydney, Australia from March 4 to April 8, 2006. At each venue, the play was presented to sell-out audiences with the original London cast, including Richard Griffiths; however, Frances de la Tour was replaced by Maggie Steed until the Broadway season.

Broadway

The American premiere of the play took place on April 23, 2006 when the same National production opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. Originally scheduled to run through September 2, 2006, the run was extended through to October 8, 2006 following huge public demand in the aftermath of sweeping the Tony, New York Critics Circle and other American theatrical awards.

West End

Following its Broadway triumph and second UK tour, the play opened at London's Wyndham's Theatre on 2 January 2007, following previews from 20 December 2006. The production closed on 14 April 2007. A further West End run of the play opened once again at the Wyndham's Theatre on 20 December 2007 running through 26 April 2008.

UK National Tours

The first UK tour of the production opened in 2005, continuing to play nine regional venues. A second UK tour began on the 31 August 2006 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, touring to eight further venues. The latest (third) UK tour launched on 6 September 2007 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, before continuing to Truro, Cheltenham, Bath, Dublin, Blackpool, Leeds, Cambridge and Eastbourne before culminating in Newcastle on 10 November 2007.

A new national tour co-produced by the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre Royal Bath will commence in early 2010. This will be a new production not produced by the National Theatre and will be directed by Christopher Luscombe.

Other Productions

The play had its southwest USA premier at Uptown Players, in Dallas, from Apr3-May3 2009. The first non-professional UK production of The History Boys was staged by Daisy and Rose Theatre Productions at Ermysted's Grammar School in Skipton, North Yorkshire, between August 28th-30th 2008^[1]. The play made its Chicago premiere on April 25, 2009, at TimeLine Theatre. A South Australian production (www.mixedsalad.com.au) was be staged at the Holden Street Theatre between June 3-20 2009. The play will make its amateur debut in Melbourne, Australia, performed by Boroondara Theatre Company at the Cromwell Road Theatre from 18-25 July 2009 (www.historyboys.com.au). The play made its Pittsburgh professional debut at Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre on August 8-22. This production will mark the first time a professional regional theatre has ever streamed a live performance of a show online as it happens, on the night of August 15th 8:00pm Eastern (see www.LIPLO.com). The Netherlands premiere will be presented on October 1st 2009 by The Queen's English Theatre Company at the CREA Theater, Amsterdam - featuring an English mother-tongue cast and directed by Mark Winstanley (see www.qetc.nl).

Royal National Theatre casts

Film adaptation

In October 2006 a film adaptation of the play was released in the United States, and later in November 2006 in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Nicholas Hytner and featured the original stage cast.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best Play
• 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play
• 2006 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play
• 2006 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
• 2006 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Play
• 2006 Tony Award for Best Play

References

• Michael Billington (19 May 2004). "Review: The History Boys". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,11712,1220108,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 
• Alan Bennett; Nicholas Hytner (21 June 2004). "The truth behind the History Boys". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/06/21/btbennett21.xml&sSheet=/arts/2004/06/22/ixartright.html. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 

Further reading

• Bennett, Alan (2004). The History Boys. London: Faber and Faber. p. 96 pp. ISBN 0571224644. 

External links

• The History Boys at the Royal National Theatre
• The History Boys at the Internet Broadway Database
• The History Boys at the Internet Movie Database