History Boys

[davidp2]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 5:50am

I became adicted to this play in London last year and have now seen it thirty times, both with its original cast that you are seeing on Broadway and with its touring cast that went around the UK - well, England! - last year.

I suppose you are reading this because you are interested in theatre so KILL TO GET TO SEE IT! And if you can get to hear Alan Bennett tomorrow 28 April - sorry April 28 (I never know which way round you give dates: sometimes it's 9/11, interstingly your emergency telephone number, other times it's 4th July).

Something that has been missed in the reviews I have read, and that is perfectly understandable, is that the time in which the play is posted is a mixture of the 1950s when Bennet, and indeed I myself, were at school, and some of the features of English education in the 1990s such as league tables, the thing the headmaster is focussed on. The publicity says it is based in the 1980s - perhaps a compromise - but that could be confusing both to Americans and to many younger English people.

One review I read explains that an English "Grammar School" is equivalent to an American "High School". This may be a bit simplistic; Grammar schools - of which there are still some in England - are state funded but entry, normally at age 11, is selective on academic ability. The school that is the subject of the play is such a one, but the headmaster wants to get all his 18 year old boys into Oxford and Cambridge joning their competitors who went to so-called "Public" = "Private" schools like Eton and Harrow. (Isn't English quaint!?)

I had my doubts about whether or not the play would be a success on Braodway until I chatted to a couple of Americans at one the the shows in London because it was "too English". They told me not to worry - it would be a great hit. Seems like they were right!

I'd love to hear your views ...

David Pearson

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