The History Boys

Written by Alan Bennett, the 2006 Tony Award®-winning The History Boys is directed by Paul Miller with original direction by Nicholas Hytner. The play unleashes opposing views of life and education as an unruly class of eight bright, funny, history students pursue sex, sport and undergraduate admission to Oxford or Cambridge. An overeager headmaster gives the task of preparing the boys to two teachers – one an idealist who believes in learning for its intrinsic value and the other a pragmatist who coaches the boys to shape and spin history to get noticed by the admittance examiners. The boys’ studies become a battleground of substance versus style, in which the very hearts and minds of the boys are at stake.