‘History Sir? It’s just one f***king thing after another.’

Now considered a classic of modern drama, “One of the finest plays Alan Bennett has ever written” Daily Telegraph, The History Boys opened at the National Theatre to rave reviews and a sell-out run and went on to become one of their biggest ever hits, winning over 30 major awards, and voted The Nation’s Favourite Play.

“We’re low in the league. I want to see us up there with

Manchester Grammar, Haberdasher Askes,

Leighton Park… or is that an open prison”

A group of bright, funny and unruly teenagers with the best grades their school have ever seen are in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. Their maverick English teacher, Hector, is taking them through an eclectic timetable encompassing everything from the great poets to Edith Piaf, and is at odds with the young, shrewd supply teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results and league tables: staffroom rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence overflow. The History Boys is a story of learning, in the broadest sense of the word, an hilariously funny and exceptionally moving play packed with witty one-liners and infectious energy, it is both a celebration of the buoyancy of youth and an elegy to lost traditions.  This national treasure has proved to be the perfect night at the theatre.  Alan Bennett at his very best.

Alan Bennett has been a household name for more than sixty years. His numerous plays include Forty Years On, Enjoy, The Madness of George III, Single Spies, Talking Heads and The Lady in the Van.

‘How very pleased I am that The History Boys are still here twenty years on finding a new audience.  “Pass it on” is Hector’s message – I hope the playgoers feel the same!’ Alan Bennett

“Brilliantly funny with lines that we will be quoting for years to come… naughty, impish, endlessly ironic” Financial Times

Closer to Cornwall? The History Boys is also playing at The Hall for Cornwall from Wed 04 Sep – Sat 07 Sep