THE HISTORY BOYS
BY ALAN BENNETT
In a Northern town in the late 1980s, eight boys are being groomed for Oxbridge [Oxford or Cambridge Universities]. Hector, the eccentric English master, teaches the boys poetry that he hopes will prepare them for the ‘long littleness of life’. But the league-table-obsessed Headmaster is not willing to leave them in Hector’s hands alone, and to complement him and the much put-upon history teacher Mrs Lintott, the Head employs Mr Irwin, a young teacher with a unique view on history, and how to get into Oxbridge.
In a Northern town in the late 1980s, eight boys are being groomed for Oxbridge [Oxford or Cambridge Universities]. Hector, the eccentric English master, teaches the boys poetry that he hopes will prepare them for the ‘long littleness of life’. But the league-table-obsessed Headmaster is not willing to leave them in Hector’s hands alone, and to complement him and the much put-upon history teacher Mrs Lintott, the Head employs Mr Irwin, a young teacher with a unique view on history, and how to get into Oxbridge.
As if soaking up Auden, Housman and understanding the causes of the Second World War weren’t taxing enough, the boys have also to try and unravel their emerging sexualities, and discover what school, university and education are really about.
Friday 20th to Saturday 28th February 2015
Tickets £12
Venue
Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Haxby Rd
York
YO31 8TA
Haxby Rd
York
YO31 8TA