The History Boys, Alan Bennett’s educational romp about a group of anarchic adolescents and their maverick teacher, has won the coveted Olivier Award for Best New Play. The History Boys opened at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre in May 2004 and completes a clean sweep of Best New Play accolades for the 2004/2005 awards season. The comic drama’s at the top of the class of an impressive category of nominations which also included Festen…
Infused with Bennett’s own experiences as a school teacher, The History Boys offers an engaging blend of boisterous schoolboy goings-on, classic Bennett one-liners and serious analysis of teaching techniques. The play stars Richard Griffiths (himself the owner of a shiny new Olivier Award this evening) as Hector, a middle-aged teacher raging against the methods of the new regime and Frances De La Tour as the history teacher Mrs Lintott; it is directed by Nicholas Hytner (another clutching a shining statuette after this evening’s events).
This is the fourth Olivier Award won by Alan Bennett, who picked up two awards for Talking Heads in 1992 and one for Single Spies in 1989/90. Bennett was also the recipient of this year’s Society Special Award, (Or “Old Fogey Award” as he dubbed it).
