| The History Boys | |
|---|---|
 Original (2004)Royal National Theatre cast | |
| Written by | Alan Bennett |
| Characters |
|
| 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 | Comedy-drama |
| Setting | 1980s |
The History Boys is aplay by British playwrightAlan Bennett. The play premiered at theRoyal National Theatre in London'sWest End on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at theBroadhurst Theatre where 185 performances were staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.[citation needed]
The play wonmultiple awards, including the 2005Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006Tony Award for Best Play.
The play opens in Cutlers' Grammar School,Sheffield, a fictional boys'grammar school in thenorth of England. Set in the mid-late 1980s, the play follows a group of history pupils preparing for theOxford andCambridge 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 his ambitious headmaster wants the school to move up the academic league table and hires Irwin, asupply teacher, 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 authorFrank McEachran (1900–1975).[1][2]
Irwin is said to be modelled afterNiall Ferguson.[3]
The play includes several non-speaking roles:
The play opened at theLyttelton Theatre (part of the National Theatre) in London on 18 May 2004, directed byNicholas Hytner. It played to sell-out audiences and its limited run was frequently extended.Richard Griffiths,Frances de la Tour,James Corden,Dominic Cooper,Russell Tovey,Sacha Dhawan,Samuel Barnett,Jamie Parker andAndrew Knott were among the original cast. On 24 November 2005, the same production was revived once again at the Lyttelton Theatre, where it played another successful run.Matt Smith took on the role of Lockwood in the November 2005 revision of the cast. The original cast reunited in the final week in February 2006.
Following closing in London, the National Theatre production toured toHong Kong in February 2006 and featured in the 2006New Zealand International Arts Festival held inWellington (February 2006) before playing at the Sydney Theatre inSydney, Australia from 4 March to 8 April 2006. At each venue, the play was presented to sell-out audiences with the original London cast, includingRichard Griffiths; however,Frances de la Tour andClive Merrison were replaced byMaggie Steed andMalcolm Sinclair until the Broadway season.
The American premiere of the play took place on 23 April 2006 when the same National production opened onBroadway at theBroadhurst Theatre.[4] Originally scheduled to run through 2 September 2006, the run was extended through to 8 October 2006 following huge public demand after the show won the Tony, New York Critics Circle and other American theatrical awards.
Following its Broadway triumph and second UK tour, the play opened at London'sWyndham'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 Wyndham's Theatre on 20 December 2007 running through 26 April 2008.
The first national tour of the production opened in 2005, continuing to play nine regional venues. A second Britain wide tour began on 31 August 2006 at theBirmingham Repertory Theatre, touring to eight further venues. The third tour launched on 6 September 2007 at theTheatre Royal, Plymouth, before continuing toTruro,Cheltenham,Bath,Dublin,Blackpool,Leeds,Cambridge andEastbourne, culminating inNewcastle on 10 November 2007.
| Role | First cast | Second cast | Third cast | Fourth cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 May 2004 to 2005, 23 January 2006 to 1 February 2006 (international tour, film adaptation) | 24 November 2005 toJanuary 2006 (UK tour) | 31 August 2006 to14 April 2007 | 6 September 2007 to26 April 2008 | |
| Headmaster | Clive Merrison Malcolm Sinclair(23 January 2006 to 28 January 2006, international tour until Broadway) | Bruce Alexander | William Chubb | David Mallinson |
| Hector | Richard Griffiths | Desmond Barrit | Stephen Moore | Desmond Barrit |
| Irwin | Stephen Campbell Moore Geoffrey Streatfeild(20 December 2004 to 2005) | Tobias Menzies | Orlando Wells | Tim Delap |
| Mrs Lintott | Frances de la Tour Maggie Steed(23 January 2006 to 28 January 2006, international tour until Broadway) | Diane Fletcher | Isla Blair | Elizabeth Bell |
| Akthar | Sacha Dhawan | Marc Elliott | Alton Letto | |
| Crowther | Samuel Anderson | Kenny Thompson | Akemnji Ndifornyen | Nathan Stewart-Jarrett |
| Dakin | Dominic Cooper | Jamie King | Ben Barnes(pre February 2007) Jamie King(post February 2007) | Andrew Hawley |
| Lockwood | Andrew Knott | Matt Smith | David Poynor | Sam Phillips |
| Posner | Samuel Barnett | Steven Webb | Daniel Fine | |
| Rudge | Russell Tovey | Philip Correia | Ryan Hawley | |
| Scripps | Jamie Parker | Thomas Morrison | Thomas Howes | |
| Timms | James Corden | James Cartwright | Owain Arthur | Danny Kirrane |
A majority of the original cast reunited on 2 November 2013 for theNational Theatre 50th Anniversary special and performed the French lesson scene, with Philip Correia taking over for Russell Tovey, Marc Elliott performing as Akthar, original Akthar actor Sacha Dhawan as Posner (as Samuel Barnett was performing inRichard III/Twelfth Night on Broadway at the time) and playwright Alan Bennett taking over as Hector from Richard Griffiths, who had died in March 2013.[5]
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 West Yorkshire Playhouse/Bath Theatre Royal production was revived for 2011 with the following cast:[citation needed]
In October 2006, a film adaptation of the play was released in the United States, and later in November 2006 in the UK. The film, also titledThe History Boys, was directed by Nicholas Hytner and featured the original stage cast.
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best New Play | Won | |
| Best Actor in a Play | Richard Griffiths | Won | ||
| Best Performance in a Supporting Role | Samuel Barnett | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Nicholas Hytner | Won | ||
The character of Irwin in Alan Bennett's play,The History Boys – a pushy, contrarian teacher who becomes a TV historian – is modelled on Ferguson...
