History Boys

Celebrated my first official day of freedom (Wednesday didn't count as I was teaching in Derry all day) heading down to Belfast to see the matinee of THE HISTORY BOYS. There was a great sense of occasion, the matinee was stuffed with people who don't normally go to matinees, people who had driven great distances, people who aren't normally out of their pyjamas at such an early hour of the afternoon, and people who had recently been reported dead - we were all there. And we loved being there. And we loved noticing each other. And we wanted to love the play. And, ultimately, we were disappointed. The sense of occasion was remarkable, the performances charming, the set and lighting and backprojection all very good, and the writing was... clever, heightened, witty, entertaining...but DIDN'T FORWARD THE THEME WITH SIGNIFICANT ACTION. In fact it danced all around the theme but didn't quite grasp the nettle. THE HISTORY BOYS is a lovely play, but I'm not sure that it knows what it's about.

I never want to be one of those theatre types who can't praise someone else's success. "It is not enough to merely succeed, others must fail". No. But it felt to me as though Alan Bennett had almost too much talent, and it got in the way of the play having a sense of direction.

Still one of those plays one is glad to have seen, to be able to chew over and think about in times to come.