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A lost time of lost values
The History Boys
Malvern Theatres
**** ALAN Bennett’s best known play has
arrived at Malvern Theatres courtesy of Sell a Door Theatre Company this
week with a production that is a slick and witty ensemble show. It is some time since
students aspiring to study at Oxford or Cambridge stayed at school after
completing their A Levels for a 7th Term to prepare for the
scholarship/entrance exams, but The
History Boys depicts the experience of
such a group of scholars in an all-boys Grammar school some 30 or so
years ago. The scruffy room in which they are taught by
Hector, Irwin and Mrs Lintott is typical of such schools of that period;
it is switched about quickly from a room with rows of front-facing
individual desks, to a circle of chairs for seminar-style discussion;
the culture is intellectual but sloppy, informal and at times vulgar. Hector has grown old and cynical and yet projects
his love of words, language and literature with little attempt to focus
on syllabus, exams or relevant topics. Irwin is placed to counter his
influence by a Head who recognises something of Hector’s inadequacies
and wants to improve his candidates’ chances of success with polish. But Irwin is a fraud who never succeeded in
making it to Oxbridge,
The play takes us through the autumn term as the
students are prepared for the exams and their interviews, and brings
them through to success in gaining access to the colleges of their
choices. The play explores a range of serious themes
through the banter and witty dialogue: sexual repressions and
expression, homosexuality and heterosexuality, paedophilia, the apparent
randomness of much of history, the role of women in society, the nature
of scholarship and the function of education and exams. “This is school,
so it isn’t normal!”
Some of Hector’s conduct today would be
unacceptable and shocking, but in that context it is merely brushed over
as embarrassing and awkward. The boys operate as an ensemble with their sexual
banter and witty innuendo, and the performances were excellent, with
variety and colour in their distinctive characters. Steven Roberts (as
Posner), Kedar Williams-Sterling (as Dakin) and David Young (as Rudge)
caught the attention with their fine performances, but outstanding for
me was Alex Hope (as Scripps). His performance on the piano as well as
his singing and acting revealed great talent, and his performance was
natural and wonderfully calibrated. The teachers were similarly played very strongly
by Richard Hope (Hector), Mark Field (Irwin), Susan Twist (Mrs Lintott)
and Christopher Ettridge as Headmaster. Despite Hector’s distasteful
conduct, and Irwin’s hypocrisy, we are drawn into a warm response to
these characters. As with the boys, they are distinctly human; we warm
to their humanity despite the cynicism and the apparent absence of any
real moral compass in the culture of the school. The set was effective with a distinct area of the
stage to provide a suggested staff room in one corner, symbolic elements
hanging above the stage and the main area duplicating as a classroom and
a boys’ common room.
The play is directed with pace and energy by Kate
Saxon and there is tremendous variety and polish in this show. Overall
the cynicism and the coarse elements of the play are balanced by the
warmth, the wit and the humour communicated by a strong team. It is a
very clever and entertaining commentary on the collapse of values in our
culture towards the end of the twentieth century. To 04-07-15 Tim Crow
29-06-15
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who
just encourages novelty and originality of thought for its own sake at
the expense, if necessary, of truth and fact.