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THE HISTORY BOYS
By Alan Bennett
At The National Theatre, Lyttleton
Director Nicholas Hytner
Designer Bob Crowley
Lighting designer Mark Henderson
South Bank, London SE1
Call +44 (0) 20 7452 3000 Tickets £10 - £36
Tues – Sat 7.30pm; Thurs & Sat Mat 2.15pm
Running time 2 hours 25 mins with intermission
In repertoire through 1Feb06
Yes please, Sir!
Alan Bennett offers his credentials as Britain’s writer in residence with this constantly absorbing, witty and moving story of the pursuit of Oxbridge credentials by all, and an education by some in a 1980s grammar school in the north of England.
Alan Bennett’s lines are gifts to actors and directors. The boys are blessed with some that any schoolboy would give his pocket money to have, eg: Teacher: ‘How do you define History?’ Boy: ‘It’s just one f***ing thing after another’. The teachers, too, are given enough for us to believe that theirs is indeed the most noble profession. New York audiences are in for a treat when, in the new year, the production transfers to Broadway with the original cast. The Ivy League status obsession is one to match the Oxbridge one.
It is a time when a teacher can use an exercise book to slap boys’ heads (without getting assaulted) and where the sense of freedom in the classroom means anyone can say anything they like. I loved the meandering, ‘discovering’ nature of the classes, where history is taught in the English class sometimes just because the teacher feels like it, and even conducts one in cod French! This was wonderfully funny with gorgeous ensemble playing, and a company revelling in the ridiculous. The scene was a joy.
Desmond Barrit’s handling of the comic scenes as the veteran teacher Hector, who is riding for a fall (in more ways than one) was masterly, although he tended to indulge in self pity where some brave bonhomie might have made his sadness more poignant. Showing a well developed reticence as Irwin, the new teacher on the block, Tobias Menzies was constantly watchable. If he curbs a tendency to stride around for something to do, his might become a truly fascinating performance, most compelling as he is when uncomfortably still. Diane Fletcher, as Mrs Lintott, showed an amusing, world-weary way about her, and brought a smile whenever she appeared. To a man, the boys were a pleasure to watch.
Among the less appealing aspects were the angular, prefabricated looking set, and forest of unlit neon lights overhead in Bob Crowley’s design. The regular interruption of the story by film footage on a huge screen, accompanied by loud and urgent music, roughly intruded upon the rarefied atmosphere of school academia. This invasion of the stage by a gratuitous cinema version of what we were in the theatre to watch destroyed the suspension of disbelief, and demonstrated that director Nicholas Hytner was not secure with the piece as written. He left the live actors to work to regain their credibility on each occasion. Perhaps Mr Hytner could not resist the temptation to show that he could expertly direct the film version when it comes. Pity.
Alan Bennett emerged the star performer, making learning gripping, and at times explosive. If, as he says ‘God is a case of unrequited love’, perhaps it is because Mr Bennett has stolen his limelight for just a moment.
Not to be missed
Saul Reichlin
London Correspondent
www.ChicagoCritic.com
Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show
Saturday 10 Dec 2005
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