The History Boys returns to the West End after two decades

The History Boys will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 10 April for a 16-week run, returning to the West End after two decades.

Nicholas Hytner, who directed Alan Bennett’s play at the National Theatre and its 2006 film adaptation, links the return to a warning about humanities teaching in state schools. He calls the situation an “almost terminal decline”.

Hytner says its themes of education, history and the value of literature for its own sake feel especially relevant amid renewed debate about what schools should teach.

Hytner said: “There has been a decline of humanities subjects in state schools, an almost terminal decline of music and drama teaching, history and modern languages have been downgraded. But it has obviously been a mistake, both for the individual pupil and our economic future, to neglect the humanities.”

The production reunites Hytner with its original designer, Bob Crowley. Bennett will be involved in its development.

The 2004 rise of The History Boys

The National Theatre staged the world premiere of The History Boys in 2004 before the production later transferred to the West End and Broadway. It won three Olivier awards and six Tonys. The nation voted it its favourite play. The production launched the careers of James Corden, Russell Tovey and Dominic Cooper.

Set in 1980s Sheffield, the play follows eight boys at a grammar school preparing for university entrance exams. Two teachers take opposing approaches to their education. The play explores adolescence, sexuality and competing ideas of learning, treating learning as a route to achievement or an end in itself. Its tone moves between poignant and sharply comic.

Hytner said he first asked Bennett whether he wanted to see the play revived: “He’s not usually that keen on revivals of his stuff, but he said he’d love to see it again.”

Bennett said: “The History Boys is one of the happiest plays I’ve written. Or rather, it was one of the happiest of my plays to write. It was also one of the quickest to set down, taking far less than my usual five years.”

He added: “So, something of a record for me. The play is full of quotes and has itself become eminently quotable. A joy for any playwright. I welcome its return under Nicholas Hytner.”

A new staging with new actors

Hytner said the production would inevitably change, having evolved between its opening at the National Theatre and the end of its Broadway run in 2006. Bennett would have input into every change.

He emphasised that the revival would again feature actors at the start of their careers: “I can almost guarantee that none of the new cast will be well-known figures, because that’s the point about them.”

The French scene that divided the first cast

Even the original cast doubted one of the play’s most farcical scenes. Hector makes his pupils act out in French a client visiting a brothel in Paris. The charade ends with the headteacher entering the room while one of the boys has his trousers down.

Hytner recalled: “They were really suspicious of the French scene near the beginning of the play. Only a couple of them were confident about it, they just didn’t think it was funny. I had to keep saying it’s fine, let’s do it, let’s see how it goes.”

At the first preview, the scene brought the house down. Hytner said: “I remember the look of stunned amazement. It was a complete delight for the young actors.”

What does the curriculum overhaul mean for the arts?

The revival arrives as the government undertakes the first major revision of the national curriculum and GCSEs in more than a decade. The government opened public consultations in September. It expects a revised curriculum in spring 2027, with implementation from 2028.

Hytner said: “It feels as if so much of what state education was focused on in the last 20 years is proving to be beside the point, when AI can do so much of what pupils were being prepared to do.”

He added: “Schools could do a lot worse than introduce pupils to creativity, and to delight in other people’s creativity.” He said the play championed the humanities as “the birthright of anybody who goes through the school system”, rather than subjects whose value depended on their immediate practical application. For schools, his answer is to teach creativity and treat the humanities as ends in themselves, not simply subjects with immediate practical application.

Hytner also hopes the production will resonate with a generation raised on social media. “Quite a lot of young people are ambivalent about social media,” he said. “They crave a kind of conversational spontaneity and an ability to concentrate and immerse themselves outside of social media.”

By opening on 10 April, the production brings Hytner’s defence of creativity into a live national debate over what schools should teach. The revised curriculum, due in spring 2027 and implemented from 2028, will test the question behind the play: what education is for when AI can do so much of what pupils were being prepared to do.