Nicholas Hytner

I saw the film version of The History Boys and I fell in love with it. With an exam of my own looming , I felt like revisiting this material again. Both of the "History Boys" books (for the film and for the play) have lovely "extras" in them--The History Boys: The Film contains an introduction by director (of both the play and the film) Nicholas Hytner, a brief filming diary from Alan Bennett, and both behind-the-scenes and still photos from the movie, as well as the shooting script show more (including several scenes which were edited out of the final released film). The History Boys: A Play includes, along with the original play itself, an introduction by Alan Bennett in which he recounts his own memories of A-levels, sitting entrance exams, and going to Oxford. The dialogue and the characters in The History Boys are simply delightful and the commentary on education and on the effect teaching has on teachers is, I think, both brilliant and understated. I welcomed the opportunity to read both the play and the shooting script and compare them to the preserved end-product in the film. It's fascinating to see what was changed from play to film and what bits ultimately got left out (or edited out) from the script and what bits from the play wound up back into the film despite not being in the shooting script. Ultimately, I think I like better both the film's slightly more sympathetic portrayal of Irwin, whose position as a teacher just barely older than his students I find very easy to empathize with (though the similarities, for the most part, end there), and the subtlety that comes with the film's (necessary?) removal of most of the asides to the audience (though I can imagine that on-stage and think it likely works well there). show less

The community support and indulgence that this nasty crazy old lady received from her neighbors is astounding. It would never happen here in the USA. So, is the tale believable? If nothing else, it is hope-able. Maggie Smith, of course, nails it.

The author details his years at the National Theatre, a tenure that overlaps my own experience of the National Theatre through the program begun by him, National Theatre Live, designed to bring live theatre straight from London to your own city. He has worked with some of the finest playwrights, and has seen his work move from London to Broadway (though not always successfully, due to the vagaries of the London stage compared with the vagaries of the Broadway stage). He brings a fascinating, show more behind the scenes world to life, and the difficulties of bringing a play to life are presented with humor. As one who has seen his work, I feel at times his self-deprecating humility does not play well, but overall, it is a fascinating book about people I will probably never get much closer than 6 degrees of separation to, and I recommend the book to anyone interested in how theatre happens. show less

This book was awesome! Great combination of accounts of directing individual shows, developing shows, and planning an overall season. (Okay, the last chapter, mainly acknowledgements, was a slog.)