April 24, 2006

Critics love 'History Boys' on Broadway

British import "The History Boys" opened on Broadway last night and the critics love, love, love it. (All but the New York Post, that is.)

Written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner, "The History Boys" is about "staffroom rivalry, the anarchy of adolescence and the purpose of education."

From the reviews:

Variety - "This very British play from that peerless observer of English life, Alan Bennett, is in many ways sprawling and untidy, but invigoratingly alive with ideas. And Nicholas Hytner's superb production also is alive with an unruly energy that mirrors the sexual and intellectual vitality of the gifted lads at the play's center."

New York Times - "Then there is the lure of Mr. Bennett's dialogue, as shimmering and warming as a fine Cognac. As befits a play about precocious, irreverent students — a category to which the 71-year-old Mr. Bennett still seems, on some level, to belong — "The History Boys" is a bright brooder with a strong streak of the showoff."

Sun - ""The History Boys" is an unexpectedly moving mixture of intellectual verve and sexual angst. Mr. Bennett, a prolific British playwright whose work hasn't been seen on Broadway for more than 30 years, has written an array of juicy scenes rich with epigrammatic quotes. (Western culture is so fascinated with archaeology, Mr. Irwin suggests, because 'it's the closest history comes to shopping.')"

Post - "Alan Bennett's "The History Boys," which came to the Broadhurst Theatre last night trailing clouds of glory and awards from London's National Theatre, could well emerge as the cult hit of the season. So I'm sorry to say I found it hopelessly overblown, overhyped and overrated."

Washington Post - "Playwright Alan Bennett has pulled off that rarest of feats, a comedy of ideas both devilishly entertaining and true to the heart."

Hartford Courant - "Bennett takes chances. His hero is a pederast pedant, fond of feeling the genitals of his pupils as he speeds along on his motorcycle. The hugely fat old perv ought to be repellent. But as played by Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter's Uncle Dudley), the literature addict known as Hector comes across as odd, endearing, even lovable."

Journal News - "'The History Boys' is smart, funny, touching and true. It is the play you must see if you see nothing else on Broadway this spring."

Los Angeles Times - "Though it's already been adapted into a film (scheduled to be released after the Broadway run), anyone heading to New York should experience the work in all its vertiginous splendor onstage."

"The History Boys" plays through September 3 at the Broadhurst Theater, located at 235 W. 44th St., map.

April 24, 2006 06:40 AM in Broadway

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