The History Boys

by Alan Bennett

It’s 1983 at a boys school in Yorkshire. A group of pupils have obtained the highest A-level scores ever for the school and long for Oxbridge scholarships. But believing the boys are crass and uncultured, the school’s arrogant headmaster believes they require additional coaching to give them what he calls ‘an edge’. He hires Mr. Irwin, an apparent Oxford graduate, who teaches them to question all conventional academic material taught to them and stand out from the crowd. As the boys wrestle with their sexuality and academic future we are left asking: Does the education system leave a soul or a hole?