Daily post 20 Aug 2006 08:07 am
The History Boys
On Friday night, I saw Alan Bennett‘s play, The History Boys. What a gem! The rare case when the awards went to the right show.
One might have expected the acting to be tired and working by rote. The entire cast had done the run in England, did it in Japan, filmed the movie, and now were deep into the Broadway run – 2 years later. I think LA is next. But no; they were absolutely incredible – every one of them. It was a truly great ensemble.
The two standouts were Richard Griffiths (you probably know him as Harry Potter‘s guardian) and Maggie Steed. She’s temporarily taken over the role for Frances de la Tour, but Ms. Steed could not have been better. She gave this performance everything. Mr. Griffiths gave a performance that can not be forgotten. What a brilliant actor! He’s been stuck in a lot of cartoonish character roles in film, but what an actor!
Richard Griffiths (photo by Joan Marcus)
He has two scenes in this play that break your heart – not just in sympathy for the character but also in empathy for what society is doing to our children in their poor education. He works on so many planes, it’s exciting.
And so does the author work on many planes. Richard Griffiths et al just interpreted.
Alan Bennett.
I have loved this man’s work for years. I’ve read all of his plays, his diaries and have seen all of his film work I was able to find. He is a brilliant, articulate, intelligent author who always has much to say about his characters and the human experience and condition.
Originally, a member of Beyond The Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller, he came to my attention with PBS’ airing of the Talking Heads plays: long monologues set to a one hour tv format. They were thoroughly engrossing and completely captivating. His The Madness of George III was as brilliant on stage as it was on screen. And now The History Boys. I’m not a writer, and I have no real words to describe the excellence I saw and felt. However, I do recognize genius, and this is it.
If only we could get Bennett to write something for animation. The medium certainly needs someone who can write instead of the immature scripts we have. Immature in all senses of the word.
Tickets to the show came as a birthday present (back in April) from my dear Heidi. The seats were incredible, sixth row on the aisle, and absolutely worth the wait.
The perfect production.
on 23 Aug 2006 at 8:57 am 1.jeff said …
Just saw this wonderful and powerful show this past weekend. Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour were marvelous. The boys were mesmerizing.
Did anyone pick up on comments made by Ms. de la Tour (Mrs. Lintott) concerning her sexual preference or did I misread her comments to the audience?
on 23 Aug 2006 at 9:35 am 2.Michael said …
I think Frances de la Tour is not in the show this month and was replaced by Maggie Steed (who gave a brilliant performance Friday night.)
I saw no reference to her sexuality. The headmaster tells us she had been married. She gives an extended speech about history being controlled by men.
She does have the one speech:
“I am, it is true, confided in by all parties, my gender some sort of safeguard against the onward transmission of information … though that I should be assumed to be so discreet is in itself condescending. I’m what men would call a safe pair of hands.”
I didn’t interpret that last line as a sexual preference but rather a reason for seeming safe to fondle men’s parts because she is a woman. But there are dozen’s of meanings in that line, perhaps you heard/saw something else in her reading. She was angry but not strident.
This, of course, leads to her later monologue where she says:
” … having taught you all history on a strictly non-gender-oriented basis I just wonder whether it occurs to any of you how dispiriting this can be?”
Is it another reference you caught that I missed? (Admittedly I didn’t get all the lines and am now reading the play to make up for it.) It’s a great show.
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