The History Boys At Theatre Royal Plymouth Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Laura B
Where do I start?! If I am truly honest, I haven’t visited the theatre since pre-Covid, and what a show to start with!! Alan Bennett’s, The History Boys, transports you back to the education system in the 1980’s; I found the play to be fabulously entertaining, thought-provoking, and immensely moving. Alongside, I loved the musical tracks that accompanied each scene change, evoking so many memories for me of that era.
The Theatre Royal in Plymouth is a large modern regional theatre in the city centre with plenty of parking nearby, accessible and comfortable.
In this modern comedy classic Bennett takes you back in time to the 80s with the play set in an English boy’s sixth-form college, in an era without mobile phones or computers and when teachers ‘clipped’ students around the ear with a newspaper…
Throughout the play, there is much humour, many puns, and dry wit. Following the boy’s excellent ‘A’ level results, we are introduced to their teachers and Headmaster. The Headmaster is keen to move his school to the top of the local school’s leader board by ensuring the boys have the opportunity to be coached for a prestigious university rather than Loughborough, Leeds, Manchester, or Nottingham. We learn about each character in depth, as they are prepared for the Oxbridge examination for either Oxford or Cambridge University. The play portrays the many different styles of teaching but without the basics of Lintott, the maverick style of Hector, and the seriousness of Irwin’s teaching the Headmaster’s high aspirations would never have been achieved.
My favourite scene is performed in French, where Hector enables the boys to take his lesson to a place where they want to go, during his class, and quite unexpectedly, the Headmaster and the new teacher, Mr. Irwin arrive at the classroom door. The Headteacher was showing Mr Irwin around the school, to introduce him to the boys, but they walked into the class, which was amid hilarious antics set in a French brothel, Hector had every single boy fully involved in his lesson improvising their way throughout. Speedily, Hector and the boys transformed their brothel into a French Army Hospital, on the front line in the First World War. The way they all adapt their roles and the frustrations of the Headteacher trying to take part and converse in French (which appeared a challenge to him) was so funny and whilst I imagine it helps if you have a basic grasp of the French language the performance of the actors ‘tells the story’ without the need for the language.
I loved the ending of the play where we found out what had happened to all the boys and where they went for their future careers.
Not only is it extremely funny, but also deeply thought-provoking. The play tackles relationships, the philosophy of education, classism, sexism, in fact, all manner of things, and despite opening in London in 2004 many of the themes are still as pertinent today as they were 20 years ago.
They were all great characters, far too many good performances to pick any one person as the best actor. The boys and staff of the school were fantastic and all believable.
As the final curtain came down and as expected, there was a standing ovation. It’s a great play. Go and see this, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £18 (no transaction fee)
The History Boys by Alan Bennett is at The Theatre Royal Plymouth from Tuesday 17 September 2024 7:30PM – Saturday 21 September 2024 7:30PM for more information or to book tickets visit https://theatreroyal.com or call the box office on 01752 267222 https://theatreroyal.com/whats-on/history-boys/
Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, PL1 2TR