Scored some last minute tickets to the first preview of Alan Benett's award winningcomedy drama History Boys. This was the hot ticket throughout its London National Theatre and Uk regional run. It will be the hot ticket here as well.
It is a stunner - funny, sad, erudite, politically en-pointe, bouncey 1980's soundtrack (think Alyson "Weak in the Presence of Beauty" Moyet Download 06_weak_in_the_presence_of_beauty.m4p . ) and a beautiful cast.
It is a beguiling mixture of sharp dialogue (even one whole Act in French - pity the Mid Western tourists) interspersed with grainy black and white (almost music) videos projected on the rear wall as the numerous (sometimes to numerous) stage resets occur. The boys sing, dance, recite poetry and act out scenes from 1930/40's classic films.
You will learn, you will cry, you will laugh and at the end you will all rise in a well deserved standing ovation.
Go see it. 
History Boys ctd
The play takes place during the 1980s in a grammar school in
the north of England. The tale concerns a set of male students
preparing to take Oxford and Cambridge entrance exams and the ways that
the different teachers choose to influence their abilities. Hector the
English Teacher (Richard Griffiths) is a rather shambolic figure with
little time for the constraints of the curriculum. Hector allows the
boys to decide the form and format of their learning, so they sing old
songs, re-enact camp sequences from famous films and show a passion for
poetry under his guidance. Hector's unorthodox educational approach is
called into question by the headmaster who employs a potentially
steadying influence in Mr Irwin, an ambitious young History teacher
brought in to ensure some of the pupils make it through to the major
universities.
Hector views examinations as the enemy of true education in direct
contrast to Mr Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore). Irwin teaches that
technique is almost more important than truth, he advises taking a
deliberately contrary viewpoint on historical occurrences and backing
them up with historical fact in order to surprise approval from the
sought after universities. The pupils include the self assured and
handsome Dakin (Dominic Cooper) whose major goal is to bed the
Headmaster's secretary and Posner desperately in love with Dakin,
played in wonderful scene stealing form by Samuel Barnet.
The first act seems rather fragmented with many short scenes that are
punctuated by video clips of the students and teachers on their daily
business around the school. The video sequences are necessitated by the
scenery changes taking place and whilst the clips add much to the
atmosphere of the piece I wish the stage was not so often invaded by an
army of furniture removers. I would rather see less detail in scenery
in order to avoid this disruption to the flow of a piece. The second
act is by far the superior and whilst it continues to deliver the
laughs it packs an emotional punch that left many around me in tears.
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