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History Boys, The

  • Alan Bennett
  • Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy, 1980s
  • 11M, 1F
  • ISBN: 9780571224647

Madly enjoyable!

The New York Times

Nothing could diminish the incendiary achievement of this subtle, deep-wrought and immensely funny play about the value and meaning of education...In short, a superb, life-enhancing play.

The Guardian

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dramatic Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 1980s
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Interior Set
  • Cautions: Strong Language, Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Large Stage, Professional Theatre, Reader's Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student

  • Accolades:
  • Winner! 2006 Tony Award for Best Play
    Winner! 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play
    Winner! 2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
    Winner! 2006 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Play
    Winner! 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best Play
An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form (senior) boys in a British boarding school are, as such boys will be, in pursuit of sex, sport, and a place at a good university - generally in that order. In all their efforts, they are helped and hindered, enlightened and bemused, by a maverick English teacher who seeks to broaden their horizons in sometimes undefined ways, and by a young history teacher who questions the methods, as well as the aim, of their schooling. 

In The History Boys, Alan Bennett raises - with gentle wit and pitch-perfect command of character - not only universal questions about the nature of history and how it is taught but also questions about the purpose of education today. Following a sold out run in London, The History Boys premiered on Broadway in April 2006 taking the Tony Award as Best Play of the Season.
REVIEWS:

Madly enjoyable...moves with a breezy narrative swagger that transcends cultural barriers...Musical numbers, video sequences, scholarly debates, the acting-out of vintage movie scenes, moments of shocking emotional nakedness and wry internal monologues travel cheek by jowl here...Mr. Bennet's dialogue [is] as shimmering and warming as a fine Cognac...As befits a play about precocious, irreverent students...The History Boys is a bright brooder with a strong streak of the showoff

The New York Times

Nothing could diminish the incendiary achievement of this subtle, deep-wrought and immensely funny play about the value and meaning of education...In short, a superb, life-enhancing play.

The Guardian

Brilliantly funny...The History Boys is moving, disquieting: one follows it with a heart brimful...[Bennett's] finest work in decades.

Financial Times
Premiere Production: The History Boys was first presented by the National Theatre at the Lyttleton Theatre in London on May 18, 2004. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner. The play was subsequently presented on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City on April 23, 2006. It was also directed by Mr. Hytner.

Characters

  • Casting: 11M, 1F
  • Casting Attributes: Ensemble cast, Features Teens, Minority casting

  • HEADMASTER
    HECTOR - English/General studies teacher
    IRWIN - History teacher
    MRS. DOROTHY LINTOTT - History teacher
    AKTHAR - student, Muslim
    CROWTHER - student, acts as a hobby
    STUART DAKIN - student, handsome
    JAMES LOCKWOOD - student, opinionated
    DAVID POSNER - student, the youngest, gay, Jewish
    RUDGE - student, an athlete
    DONALD SCRIPSS - student, Anglican, pianist
    TIMMS - student, class clown, overweight

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    History Boys, The Script This is optional. Order Now

    An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form (senior) boys in a British boarding school are, as such boys will be, in pursuit of sex, sport, and a place at a good university - generally in that order. In all their efforts, they are helped and hindered, enlightened and bemused, by a maverick English teacher who seeks to broaden their horizons in sometimes undefined ways, and by a young history teacher who questions the methods, as well as the aim, of their schooling. In The History Boys, Alan Bennett raises - with gentle wit and pitch-perfect command of character - not only universal questions about the nature of history and how it is taught but also questions about the purpose of education today. Following a sold out run in London, The History Boys premiered on Broadway in April 2006 taking the Tony Award as Best Play of the Season.

    		$29.95

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