THE HISTORY BOYS tells the story of an
unruly class of bright, funny history students in pursuit of
an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced
between their maverick English master (Richard Griffiths), a
young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores
(Stephen Campbell Moore), a grossly out-numbered history
teacher (Frances de la Tour), and a headmaster obsessed with
results (Clive Merrison), the boys attempt to sift through
it all to pass the daunting university admissions process.
Their journey becomes as much about how education works, as
it is about where education leads.
The big screen adaptation of the five time Tony
award-winning play of the same name, THE HISTORY BOYS
utilizes the same talent that originally brought the
production to the stage. It is directed by Nicholas Hytner
from a script adapted for the screen by the playwright Alan
Bennett. The stage version premiered to the world in
London’s prestigious National Theatre in 2004, winning
audience and critical acclaim alike including Laurence
Olivier Awards for Best New Play, Best Director (Nicholas
Hytner) and Best Actor (Richard Griffiths), as well as
Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Best Play.
The production will premiere on Broadway in the spring of
2006.
The key cast of the film remains the same as the original
stage version led by Richard Griffiths, Clive Merrison,
Frances de la Tour, Stephen Campbell Moore, Sacha Dhawan,
Samuel Anderson, Dominic Cooper, Andrew Knott, Samuel
Barnett, Russell Tovey, Jamie Parker and James Corden. THE
HISTORY BOYS is produced by Kevin Loader (ENDURING LOVE,
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN), Damian Jones (MILLIONS, WELCOME
TO SARAJEVO) and Nicholas Hytner.
A distinguished British screenwriter, playwright and actor,
Alan Bennett recently won his fourth Olivier Award for Best
New Play for “The History Boys.” Previously he won two
Oliviers for “Talking Heads” in 1992 and one for “Single
Spies” in 1989. In addition to being nominated for an Oscar,
a BAFTA Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for the
feature film THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, Bennett won a
Writers Guild of Great Britain Award. He has been nominated
for eight BAFTA TV Awards and won one for “A Question of
Attribution,” and received three BAFTA Film nominations.
Bennett began his career as an actor and writer for the
"Beyond the Fringe" comedy troupe, which also included
Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, and Jonathan Miller.
Nicholas Hytner won a BAFTA Award for Best British Film for
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE. He earned both a Tony and an
Olivier Award for his direction of “Carousel” and an Olivier
Award for “The History Boys.” He was awarded the 1989 London
Evening Standard Theatre Award and London Critics Circle
Theatre Award for Best Director for “Miss Saigon” and
“Ghetto.” Hytner’s feature film directorial credits also
include THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION and THE CRUCIBLE. Hytner
is Artistic Director of London’s National Theatre.
© 2006 Fox Searchlight Pictures .
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