My friend Olly and I saw the play “History Boys” (which was recently made into a movie). After debuting a massive stage success, it recently moved from the National Theatre to the West End -- although that was news to Olly, who mistakenly went to the National first, arriving at the correct theatre just minutes before curtain.Our seats were crap (my fault), but it was a good play, although it tried a bit too hard at times…most notably in the first act when the boys enact an unnecessarily long scene in French, which I found to be a bit gratuitous and pretentious…I suppose if you don’t understand French, Alan Bennett does not deem you intellectual enough to enjoy his play. The idea of the scene was very funny, it just droned on too long.
My criticism overall is that it reeked a bit “Dead Poets Society” wanna-be (I think I just dated myself to all the high-schoolers that were in the audience….”Dead Poet who??”). But for all you TRUE GenXrs out there, let’s face it, nothing can really match that. BUT, in it’s favour, I will say that the acting/casting is really brilliant, there are many funny moments, and the scene changes are filled with a series of punchy black and white film sequences set to catchy music showing the boys going about their days and bringing bits of the storyline to life…that was a nice touch.
While I was not left pondering it (ok, ok, I am a theatre snob, I know), it was an evening well spent and certainly one of the better plays I have seen lately…it’s modern take on the competitive education environment in England was timely and topical, though it probably would have been more compelling to me if it were a system I knew anything about. I mean, the fact that “public” school is a more elite level of education here in the U.K. is still a regular point of confusion for me given that in the U.S. it means everyman education for the masses (I am a proud public school girl).
After the show, Ollie and I had a lovely dinner at Palais du Jardin near the theatre. Very good…my favourite part being the exceptional crème brulee that capped off the night. Oh, and Olly’s consistently captivating conversation, of course (he reads this blog). ☺
1 comment:
Whilst I quite enjoyed tearing around town as if my hair was on fire it's usually better to arrive somewhere with grace and poise. That said, my swoop into the theatre foyer was far from ungainly and Cat looked genuinely relieved to see that I had actually showed-up...
When Mark Lawson, (Radio 4's arts arse-licker-in-Chief, for it is he) reviewed History Boys he also came up with the Dead Poets line - perhaps more with regard to the film than anything else - but he maintained that it was a solid bit of Bennett's work that was worth seeing. And he's right.
As someone who is proud to have attended public school (yes, Cat: the kind you have to pay for) what endears the play to me is the way in which the script brings back memories of exchanges I and my classmates had with our teachers. But since this was set in a Sheffield state school one wonders whether it's really very representative and if the writer is transferring Oxbridge conversations into a secondary school setting?
In truth none of that really matters: it's a piece of entertainment and whilst very funny and clever doesn't really pose too many deep and meaningful questions. So what if I didn't come out feeling like I needed to totally re-evaluate my feelings about my education? Better to have walked out with a smile on my face...
Oh yeah - and supper was quite good, too! But eating tres late is never a good thing... on the other hand having a laugh with the Franklin is.
Post a Comment