BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: JUNE 1, 2006

THE HISTORY BOYS

When asked to define history, Rudge (Russell Tovey), the coarsest of all the boys in English master Hector's (Richard Griffith) class at an all-boys grammar school (the equivalent of our high schools) in northern England, responds "How do I define history? It's just one f****** thing after another."

His first play to make it to Broadway in thirty years, Alan Bennett's THE HISTORY BOYS is the latest import by one of Britain's most revered living playwrights. Bennett's works have been embraced by New York critics and cognoscenti, but he is scarcely the sensation in this country as he is in his native land. But, once the history of THE HISTORY BOYS is written, this play may prove his greatest success on both sides of the pond.

Winner of Britain's Olivier and Evening Standard awards and, most recently, the most Tony-honored play in nearly half a century—nabbing six and tying with Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN—the future for THE HISTORY BOYS looks promising. Box office receipts are boffo and with a movie already in the can, these kids are ready for mass market.

THE HISTORY BOYS follows a group of eight students who must rely on something other than family lineage to get them into the best British colleges. To prepare them for their Oxford and Cambridge exams, the buttoned-up Headmaster (Clive Merrison) enlists the utilitarian approach of history teacher Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore), to counter Hector's free-thinking style, both in and out of the classroom.

Bennett's boys are hardly a collection of naive innocents. Take, for example, Dakin (Dominic Cooper), the most charming and clever of the bunch. Dakin has no qualms about allowing Hector certain liberties with him after class, if it will help keep him in his teacher's good graces. He's also keen on using his charm and looks to manipulate the more controlled Irwin.

Fellow student Posner (Samuel Barnett), on the other hand, is a more complicated and emotional fellow. An outsider for being both Gay and Jewish, he admits his infatuation for Dakin in a sardonic piano-side interpretation of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," yet with his infectious wit, shining intellect and brazen honesty he commands the respect of his peers.

Brilliantly directed by Nicholas Hytner, there's not a single member of the cast that falls short of remarkable in this captivatingly rich play. Special mentions goes to Samuel Barnett as the complicated, young Posner. Griffith is stupendous as a teacher who could have easily come off as disgustingly lecherous. Griffith's measured take on a complicated figure earned his this year's Tony Award for leading actor. As Mrs. Linton, the single female role, Frances de la Tour's hang-dog looks and bone-dry delivery of some of Bennett's best dialogue nailed her the Tony for Featured Actress in a Play.

Others who earned the theatre's highest honor were Hytner, Bob Crowley for his understated set designs, Mark Henderson for his lighting designer and the playwright Bennett for Best Play. THE HISTORY BOYS is one of the hottest tickets in town due to the Equity mandated limited run for foreign casts. So, if you can't get tickets at the Broadhurst Theatre stay, you may have just have to wait for the silver screen version later in the year. Thankfully, it's the same splendid cast.