Total Rating: 
***1/2
Previews: 
April 14, 2006
Opened: 
April 23, 2006
Ended: 
September 3, 2006
Country: 
USA
State: 
New York
City: 
New York
Company/Producers: 
Boyett Ostar Productions, Roger Berlind, Debra Black, Eric Falkenstein, Roy Furman, Jam Theatricals, Stephanie P. McClelland, Judith Resnick, Scott Rudin, Jon Avnet/Ralph Guild, Dede Harris / Mort Swinsky presenting National Theatre of Great Britain production.
Theater Type: 
Broadway
Theater: 
Broadhurst Theater
Theater Address: 
235 West 44th Street
Running Time: 
2 hrs, 30 min
Genre: 
Comedy
Author: 
Alan Bennett
Director: 
Nicholas Hytner
Review: 

What a pleasure to be in the presence of the product of a sparklingly brilliant mind. Alan Bennett's The History Boys is full of wit and wisdom in his construct of an English boy's school presented as an intellectual swordfight with musical interludes and film clips. It is so smart, it is thrilling.

The superb English cast, as directed by Nicholas Hytner, is polished, perfectly timed, totally communicative in delivering the intricate intellectual ideas, fascinating literary analyses, and emotional turmoils. Basically, as the boys study for entrance exams for Oxford and Cambridge under the tutelage of an old and a new teacher, the play satirizes the use of words and language while using them brilliantly. There is, of course, a little bit of sexual diddling referred to, but that is totally subservient to the wordplay and interchange of ideas and concepts.

Bob Crowley's set is, as usual, a dazzler, nicely enhanced by Mark Henderson's lighting. If you don't see History Boys, you're missing something special.

Parental: 
adult themes, strong profanity
Cast: 
Samuel Anderson (Crowther), Samuel Barnett (Posner), Dominic Cooper (Dakin), James Corden (Timms), Sacha Dhawan (Akthar), Andrew Knott (Lockwood), Jamie Parker (Scripps), Russell Tovey (Rudge), Frances de la Tour (Mrs. Lintott), Richard Griffiths (Hector), Clive Merrison (Headmaster), Stephen Campbell Moore (Irwin), Joseph Attenborough, Tom Attwood, Rudi Dharmalingam, Colin Haigh, Pamela Merrick.
Technical: 
Costumes/Set: Bob Crowley; Light: Mark Henderson; Sound: Colin Pink. Video Dir: Ben Taylor; Music: Richard Sisson.
Other Critics: 
PERFORMING ARTS INSIDER David Lefkowitz 4/06 +
Critic: 
Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed: 
April 2006