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Title details for The History Boys by Alan Bennett - Available

The History Boys

by Alan Bennett
Clive Merrison
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
After a sell-out national tour and an extended stage run, Alan Bennett's phenomenally successful play transferred to BBC Radio 3, with Richard Griffiths, Clive Merrison and Frances de la Tour starring as part of the National Theatre cast. At a boys' grammar school in Sheffield, eight boys are being coached for the Oxbridge entrance exams. It is the mid-eighties, and the main concern of the unruly bunch of bright sixth-formers is getting out, starting university – and starting life. At the heart of The History Boys are four characters, each with contrasting outlooks on teaching and school: Hector, an eccentric English teacher with no interest in exams; Irwin, a young supply teacher who sees history as 'entertainment'; Mrs Lintott, a traditionalist, who teaches 'history, not histrionics'; and a Headmaster obsessed with results. Described as 'the richest play Bennett has ever written' (Financial Times), staff-room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence collide in an intensely moving and thought-provoking play. Winner of the Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle and South Bank Show Awards for Best New Play. 'A superb, life-enhancing play' – Guardian.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 1, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781405628938
      • File size: 71803 KB
      • Duration: 02:29:35

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This BBC Radio adaptation of THE HISTORY BOYS stars several of the actors who made the original play, and subsequent film, such a hit. Briefly, the plot involves eight bright senior boys at an average grammar school for whom a tutor is hired to prep them for the Oxbridge entrance exams. Intellectual and personal fireworks ensue and offer the audience a charged and involving two hours. Unfortunately, the radio adaptation is choppy and difficult to follow. One often doesn't know who is speaking, visually funny scenes don't work in audio, and the tension of the original has vanished. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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