The History Boys by Alan Bennett. Performed by The Courtyard Senior Youth Theatre.
When reviewing any of Alan Bennett’s plays – but especially The History Boys – it must be tempting to reach for a Thesaurus, but I will resist. The work is typical of Bennett – wordy, witty, and true to his working class roots and you cannot help feeling that it must be based to some extent on his personal experiences as a student.
The young cast handled the work with skill and compassion – no mean feat in a play which is both lengthy and complex.
The action takes place in a school in the 1980’s, but a sense of timelessness prevails throughout the story. Sadly the same problems exist in today’s society, and probably always will, but it will be interesting to see the play again in another 25 years to see if the reference to the Pet Shop Boys stands the test of time.
The first expletives took the usually conservative Hereford audience by surprise, creating audible gasps throughout the theatre, but it is a testament to the work of the Senior Youth Theatre that by the end they had won the audience over.
Brian Hughes, The Best of Hereford, www.thebestof.co.uk/hereford
