Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 19th October 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
I was new to The History Boys so had no preconceived notions for tonight. Alan Bennett’s other works were known to me though, so I knew I was in for a quality script and a potential emotional roller coaster ride.
The “boys” opened the show with an a cappella rendition of St Elmo’s Fire – very apt for setting the scene since we enter the story as the boys received their O-Level results and were about to move on to their A-Levels. Music was used to great effect throughout with songs deployed to punctuate (or underline) and the choice of those tunes really helped to heighten the emotional impact of the scenes or individuals within them – as such, it was part musical and part movie type soundtrack. Very impressive. In fact, the 80’s soundtrack was so masterfully interwoven in the fabric of the piece that I was surprised to learn the work’s premiere was only 2004!
The ensemble was a strong one with everyone on top form, bringing their A-game and adding to the onstage action superbly. It’s therefore hard to give everyone the praise they deserve due to this review’s word count; so apologies for anyone not mentioned individually.
Having said that, I think that Lewis Cornay (Posner) was superb. A special talent with a wonderful singing voice (in multiple languages), he brought a poignancy that was subtle yet vivid at the same time. He was ably accompanied (live on piano on stage!) by Yazdan Qafouri (Scripps) who, apart from his musical prowess, was a quasi-narrator and the conduit to shine light on other character’s stories. Archie Christoph-Allen (Dakin) was probably the most confusing and yet somehow honest of all the boys and Archie’s performance was thoroughly enjoyable due to a sensational performance.
The teachers Gillian Bevan (Mrs Lintott) and Bill Milner (Irwin) both gave us richly nuanced portrayals that were a joy to behold whilst Milo Twomey (Headmaster) was suitably officious and hissable with a focus on league tables and governor’s rather than the pupil’s wellfare. But it was Simon Rouse (Hector) who had the saddest story arc with the actor doing a marvellous job of sensitively portraying this troubled character.
Mr Bennett didn’t shy away from exploring many difficult subjects in this play and the full panoply of human emotion was worked through. There really was very little out of bounds one feels and he threw the kitchen sink at it. Although at times it was an uncomfortable watch it was, overall, a very joyful work infused with many laughs along the way.
A thought provoking piece that stays with one long after you have left the auditorium, the actors enjoyed the rousing and much deserved applause from the very appreciative audience. It’s no wonder that this piece was the launching pad for James Corden’s glittering ascent – it’s a showcase for those on stage. An opportunity to see this work doesn’t come around every day and I would encourage everyone to catch this production (in effect its 20th anniversary tour). Another fantastic triumph from the stage at Malvern Theatres, bravo to all involved.