Alan Bennett is one of the most distinctive voices in British theatre

Now a classic of modern drama, Alan Bennett’s The History Boys made a phenomenal impact upon its National Theatre debut, winning three Olivier Awards, six Tony Awards, the Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards, including Best Play.

West Yorkshire Playhouse, in a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath Productions, presents the first production of Alan Bennett’s internationally acclaimed story of a Yorkshire Grammar School since the original.

The History Boys opens at The Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from Monday 22 to Saturday 27 March 2010.

Christopher Luscombe directs this groundbreaking play, teaming up with designer Janet Bird, to re-unite the creative team behind Alan Bennett’s Enjoy, which played triumphantly in the West End last year after opening in Bath in 2008.

One of the great plays of the decade, The History Boys is set in a school in the North of England where a boisterous bunch of bright, funny, sixth-form boys are attempting to gain entrance to Oxford or Cambridge whilst evading the distractions of sport and sex.

In Alan Bennett’s much-loved play, staffroom battles and the anarchy of adolescence provide a rich vein of comedy. The headmaster has his eye on the league tables but the endearingly eccentric English teacher, Hector, has very different ideas about how the boys should be prepared for exams and for life.  Taking them through an eclectic timetable encompassing everything from the great poets to Edith Piaf, Hector insists that learning is for life, not just for the exam room.  When the Headmaster brings in Irwin, a bright junior master to coach the boys, the pupils’ allegiances are divided.

Hector is played by Gerard Murphy, whose numerous stage credits at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic, Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Northampton’s Theatre Royal, Birmingham Rep and Sheffield Crucible include King Lear, Turandot, I’ll Be The Devil, Hamlet, Henry V, Blue/Orange, Volpone, The Weir, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Amadeus, Assassins and The Thebans.  He last performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in 1991 in The Manchurian Candidate.  On television, Gerard’s credits include Spooks, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Trial and Retribution, Waking the Dead, McCallum, Vanity Fair and Doctor Who. His film work includes Waterworld and Batman Begins.

Penelope Beaumont plays Mrs Lintott. Her extensive stage credits include many roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe. Her television credits include Holby City, Peep Show, EastEnders, Doctors, The Bill and Wire in the Blood.

Kyle Redmond-Jones plays the cocksure Dakin. His film credits include Star Crossed and The Edge of Love, and television credits include Merlin (BBC). The cast also includes George Banks, James Byng, Rob Delaney, Christopher Keegan, Beruce Khan (The Black Album), who played Bath last November in Ben Lambert, Peter McGovern, Tom Reed and Thomas Wheatley.

This will be the first major revival of the play since the original National Theatre production.  The History Boys first opened in May 2004 at the National Theatre to rave reviews and a sell-out run and went on to became one of their biggest ever hits, winning no less than 30 major awards. In 2005, a film was made with the entire original cast, many of whom, including James Corden and Dominic Cooper, have subsequently become household names.

Alan Bennett is one of the most distinctive voices in British theatre. Wry and tender, his impeccably-observed plays include Talking Heads, Single Spies, Forty Years On, Habeas Corpus, The Madness of George III and The Lady in the Van. His new work, The Habit of Art, an imagined encounter between W. H. Auden and Benjamin Britten, is currently enjoying a sold out run at the National Theatre.

The History Boys is directed by Christopher Luscombe and this will be the fourth Bennett play Luscombe has directed, following Enjoy, The Lady in the Van and Single Spies, all of which played Bath.

The History Boys opens at The Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from Monday 22 to Saturday 27 March 2010.

Regent Theatre
Piccadilly, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 1AP
Box Office 0844 871 7649 Online www.ambassadortickets.com/stoke

Enjoy the show then purchase the DVD of The History Boys at Play.com

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