The History Boys
| The History Boys | |
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| Written by | Alan Bennett |
| Characters |
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| Date premiered | 18 May 2004 |
| Place premiered | Royal National Theatre, London |
| 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 |
The History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where 185 performances were staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.
The play won multiple awards, including the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play.
The play opens 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 Oxford and Cambridge entrance examinations under the guidance of three teachers (Hector, Irwin, and Lintott) with contrasting styles.
Hector, an eccentric teacher, delights in knowledge for its own sake, but the headmaster ambitiously wants the school to move up the academic league table; Irwin, a supply teacher, is hired to introduce a rather more cynical and ruthless style of teaching. Hector is discovered sexually fondling a boy and later Irwin's latent homosexual inclinations emerge.
The character of Hector was based on the schoolmaster and author Frank McEachran (1900–1975).
Irwin is said to be modelled after Niall Ferguson.
The play includes several non-speaking roles:
A fourth national tour co-produced by the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre Royal Bath commenced in early 2010. This was a new production not produced by the National Theatre and directed by Christopher Luscombe. The cast were as follows:
After a successful run the WYP/Bath Theatre Royal production is being revived for 2011 with the following cast:
A majority of the original cast reunited for the National Theatre 50th Anniversary special and performed the French lesson scene, with Posner's dialogue given to Akthar (as Samuel Barnett was performing in Richard III/Twelfth Night on Broadway at the time) and playwright Alan Bennett taking over as Hector from the late Richard Griffiths.
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