Nicholas Hytner revives his National Theatre production of Alan Bennett’s Tony-winning play about eight Sheffield grammar school boys, back in the West End for 16 weeks.
Nicholas Hytner revives Alan Bennett’s Tony Award-winning The History Boys at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in St James’s, from Saturday 10 April to Saturday 24 July 2027.
The play opened at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre on 18 May 2004, in his original production. It won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play and transferred to Broadway in 2006.
It is set in a Sheffield grammar school in the 1980s. Eight history pupils prepare for the Oxford and Cambridge entrance examinations under three teachers with contrasting methods.
Hector, their eccentric English teacher, values knowledge for its own sake. The headmaster wants results and hires Irwin, a supply teacher with a more cynical style.
The first cast included Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, James Corden, Dominic Cooper and Russell Tovey. This staging is the play’s first West End run in 20 years, a limited season of 16 weeks.
The director produces it with Brian and Dayna Lee. Bob Crowley designs the set, and the cast is still to be announced.