Teacher Guide

The History Boys Lesson Plan

Introduction to The History Boys

The History Boys is one of Alan Bennett’s most celebrated plays. The narrative is heavily inspired by Bennett's own experiences in school and the process through which he gained entrance to Oxford. Bennett says, “[The play draws] on some of the pains and the excitement of working for a scholarship at a time when Oxford and Cambridge were as daunting and mysterious to me as to any of the boys in the play."

Director Nicholas Hytner began collaborating with Alan Bennett while he was still finishing the play, two years before it was published. The History Boys débuted at the Lyttelton Auditorium of National Theatre in London on May 18, 2004 and was well received by critics and the public...

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