Review Roundup: THE HISTORY BOYS at Theatre Royal, Bath

Alan Bennett’s modern classic The History Boys is running at Theatre Royal Bath through 31 August prior to a national tour. 

A-Level results day. Cutler’s Grammar School. 1980s Sheffield.

Eight unruly teenagers burst into adulthood with the best grades their school has ever seen, but their sights are set on something higher: to study at the most famous academic institutions in the world - Oxford and Cambridge. But their teachers can’t agree how best to tutor them. There’s Hector, the maverick English teacher who believes in culture for its own sake; Irwin - the shrewd supply teacher full of soundbites; Felix - the headmaster obsessed with league tables and Mrs Lintott - the History teacher who thinks her colleagues are all fools.

THE HISTORY BOYS follows this bright bunch of boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university, lifting the lid on staffroom rivalries and the anarchy of adolescence.

This timely revival, directed by Seán Linnen (Quiz, Chichester Festival Theatre, Queers, Old Vic), and designed by Grace Smart (The Winter’s Tale, The Globe, Top Girls, Liverpool Everyman) asks what is the value and purpose of education? And who is it for?

See what the critics are saying...

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Cheryl Markosky, BroadwayWorld: The boys make the show their own, each one offering insight into their character (with help from excellent movement coach Chi-San Howard in hilarious scenes ranging from Brief Encounter to a French lesson with dubious goings-on in a brothel). Lewis Cornay as Posner is certainly one to watch, with a gorgeous singing voice and total command of the audience. Teddy Hinde has the dreaded task of taking on James Corden's scene-stealing role of Timms, but brings his own interpretation to the role. And the casting of Archie Christoph-Allen as the handsome and confident Dakin is spot-on.

Ryan Gilbey, The Guardian: Here, though, is where the revival excels. It opens to general puzzlement with the boys’ a capella rendition of St Elmo’s Fire, promising a Brat Pack (if not Brat) take on the material. So begins a smart sprucing up which extends to lively scene changes, period pop (Duran Duran, OMD) and even a stomp-a-long to Adam and the Ants’ Stand and Deliver. Purists may clutch their pearls but Linnen and his musical director Eamonn O’Dwyer bring a welcome new-broom approach to a play that already feels like ancient history.

Dominic Maxwell, The Times: Nonetheless, as teachers and boys alike turn to us to narrate their fates from some indistinct future vantage point, the resonance still sneaks out. “Find a proposition, invert it and then look around for proof,” advises Bill Milner’s stiffly ambitious Irwin. It’s an upstart approach that has gone all too mainstream. The quiet moments still grip, and so does the music, but the night lacks the vaudevillian vitality to take it from good to great.

Nick Wayne, West End Best Friend: Director Sean Linnen and movement director Chi-San Howard get the pace right throughout, emphasise the comedy, draw out the poignancy and sadness, and perfectly judge the tone. At times, you can almost hear Alan Bennett’s own voice in the lines with grooming undertones and withering putdowns calling for history not histrionics. But it is the wittiness of the writing and comedy that shines through with the biggest laugh for the line “History…. Its just one f**king thing after another”. This wonderful production reminds us of the brilliance of Alan Bennett’s writing, a playwright alongside Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and perhaps in the modern era, James Graham, who can write with such wit and insight, provoke thought and reflection on society but most of all engage and entertain an audience. What more can we ask from our theatre?

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