The History Boys

Penned as both a "confession and an expiation", Alan Bennett's The History Boys winds provocatively around his own supposed duping of the education system— getting a place at Cambridge. Never to be left out of proceedings, Bennett's own experience of 'education' versus 'culture' undoubtedly imbues his winning set of characters.

Revolving around a fictional 1980's Sheffield grammar school, The History Boys focuses on an all-male class of Oxbridge hopefuls as they contend with pending examinations. Each as individual as the Seven Dwarves, the motley crew of Northern lads are taught lovingly by exam-hating eccentric Mr Hector (played with true thespian aplomb by Gerard Murphy), until the "enemy of culture" headmaster drafts in supply teacher Mr Irwin (Ben Lambert). Super-efficient and blessed with youthful ambition, Irwin represents Hector's alternate; orthodox, ruthless and hell-bent on whipping the boys into Oxbridge-exam shape. Subject to the ensuing clash of opinions, Bennett's boys' coming-of-age involves the shift from 'useless' to 'useful' knowledge, punctuated by Hector's endless 'gobbits' of information.

But where would a play about teenagers be without raging hormones and unrequited lust? Bennett takes care of that with Posner (James Byng), the Jewish schoolboy whose love for egotistical classmate Dakin (Kyle Redmond-Jones) spawns several touching laments. Bennett's character-building ability is perhaps best demonstrated, however, in Hector, whose inexcusable case of 'wandering hands' is somehow forgiven by a justly disapproving audience.

Supported by an endearing cast of energetic young men, whose bubbling camaraderie onstage transports the viewer back to their own schooldays, The History Boys is as entertaining as it is insightful. Framed by a simple yet reminiscently grubby classroom and spliced with stomping '80's anthems, West Yorkshire Playhouse's production is an upbeat and engaging portrayal of Bennett's 'confession', as well-performed as it is written. Understandably the most commercially successful of Bennett's plays, The History Boys is likely to resonate with the student (or former student) of any discipline.