The History Boys

Written by: Alan Bennett
Directed by: Simon Cox
Cast: Samuel Anderson (Crowther), Samuel Barnett (Posner), Dominic Cooper (Dakin), James Corden (Timms), Sacha Dhawan (Akthar), Andrew Knott (Lockwood), Jamie Parker (Scripps), Russell Tovey (Rudge), Frances de la Tour (Mrs. Lintott), Richard Griffiths (Hector), Clive Merrison (Headmaster), Stephen Campbell Moore (Irwin), Joseph Attenborough, Tom Attwood, Rudi Dharmalingam, Colin Haigh and Pamela Merrick.
Synopsis: An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher. A headmaster obsessed with results and a history teacher who thinks he's a fool.
 

What the critics had to say.....

BEN BRANTLEY of the NEW YORK TIMES says �Madly enjoyable play. Compellingly watchable results.�
CLIVE BARNES of THE NEW YORK POST says "Hopelessly overblown, overhyped and overrated."
HOWARD KISSELL of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS says "A reminder of how entertaining, stimulating and exhilarating an evening in the theater can be."
MICHAEL SOMMERS of the STAR-LEDGER says "The drama is observant, wise and often droll. The actors are a lively, tightly meshed crew. "
JACQUES LE SOURD of JOURNAL NEWS says "Smart, funny, touching and true. It is the play you must see if you see nothing else on Broadway this spring."
ROBERT FELDBERG of THE RECORD says "An extraordinarily bright and completely engaging play, which manages the trick of connecting to the brain, the heart and the funny bone. "
PETER MARKS of the WASHINGTON POST says "A comedy of ideas both devilishly entertaining and true to the heart."
CHARLES McNULTY of the LOS ANGELES TIMES says "Offers the kind of unabashedly eccentric thrills that can be had only in the theater."
LINDA WINER of NEWSDAY says "This is ebullient, crackling, miraculous theater - as moving as it is intellectually extravagant, as entertaining and humane as its description sounds Byzantine and overeducated."
MICHAEL KUCHWARA of the ASSOCIATED PRESS says "Both intellectually rigorous and emotionally affecting. And very, very funny. It's filled with warm, often gentle humor, a comic spirit that grows out of situation and character."
FRANK SCHECK of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER says "Takes a long time getting to where it wants to go, but it provides plenty of theatrical riches along the way."

External links to full reviews from newspapers

New York Times
New York Post
New York Daily News
Journal News
The Record
Washington Post
Los Angeles Times
NewsDay
Associated Press
The Hollywood Reporter