What’s it about?
The history boys is a wonderfully English tragic comedy – or comic tragedy depending on the way you look at it. It’s set in a 1980s boys' grammar school where a class full of bright, inquisitive Oxbridge-hopefuls are swatting up for the entrance exams. Steering them along the way, or rather tugging them in all directions, are their three tutors: Mrs Lintott, the thorough and traditional core of their history education, Hector, their whimsically extra-curricular General Studies tutor and Irwin, the extremely young “ringer” brought in to try to boost the boys to Oxbridge entrance in the last few weeks of term. The contrast in teaching philosophies between the three causes tension both in the staffroom and the classroom. Add to this the fraught sexual-tensions of a mid-pubescent boys' school and you’ve got a fertile field for philosophical, emotional and highly-comic havoc.
What’s it like?
It’s incredibly sweet at times and some of the play’s most outstanding moments come from the hilarious role-play between the boys as they impersonate 1920s film icons and banter with their tutors. They are half enthusiastic puppies, half quick-witted intellectuals and the combination is charming (if a little utopian).
The play also captures the feel of the 1980s very convincingly, with everything from the comic Grange Hill style short film sequences shown during scene changes, to the politics in discussion. Bennett dates his play with a tongue in cheek use of that very “’80s” tokenism (in this small class there is a gay, Jewish student, a Christian, a fat student, a “stupid” working class one, a black student and a Muslim - and the latter two rarely speak) and also the kind of clumsily glib feminist attitudes which were rife in media of the era. To top it off, he resurrects a spirit of gallant resignation in the attitudes of the boys towards their loveable but sexually predatory older tutor. It’s hard to imagine a time when people weren’t vigorously demonised for such behaviour – you can’t help but feel that Bennett is raising questions about our current social climate in the way he handles these attitudes.
It’s not all about the classroom politics though – there is a tangled triangle, or square, of forbidden love. It’s a messy profusion of socially-unaccepted lust with the potential for a dark melodrama, but it’s actually treated with a light comic touch. You’ll find yourself giggling, half-sharing Irwin’s discomfort as Dakin ruthlessly propositions him and chuckling along with the cheesy music-video-style film sequence where Posner longingly watches Dakin frolic with the other boys.
Who’s in it?
Ben Barnes plays Dakin, the object of so many characters’ desire (and I’d hazard that of the majority of the audience). He’s tall, handsome, youthful and makes the smart, self-assured confidence of his character seem innate. Among the other boys, all of whom turn out endearing and convincing performances, Thomas Morrison (who plays the Christian, Scripps) stands out – it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, but he has a very engaging stage presence. Isla Blair plays the exasperated, marginalised Mrs Lintott, Orlando wells brings an interesting combination of vulnerability and showmanship to the character of Irwin, and Stephen Moore plays the lovable eccentric, Hector.
What should I look out for?
Get your GCSE French at the ready for the farcical “brothel scene”.
Who’d enjoy it?
If you’re looking for something a little more thought provoking than the glut of musicals in Theatreland, but you’d like a healthy serving of light-hearted entertainment thrown into the mix, this is the play for you.
by Sara Sha'ath
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