Did The History Boys Earn Top Grades from the Critics?

Alan Bennett's The History Boys won much acclaim and many awards during its London run. Now the National Theatre production of the play, complete with its original cast, has hit Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre for a limited engagement that opened on April 23. Did critics learn anything from the school-based drama?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Rob Kendt in his Broadway.com Review: "Bennett's rip-roaringly enjoyable The History Boys is almost entirely a pedantic exercise; its point of view is never far from view. But Bennett possesses such a large and sympathetic vision, and such a smart ear for incisive, nearly Wildean language, that this teaching lesson is like none we ever received in school. Certainly director Nicholas Hytner's handsome, free-flowing, ideally cast production, which comes to us whole from London's National Theatre, helps Bennett's medicine go down smoothly. But the play's the thing, and in the midst of an intellectually challenged Broadway season, we might embrace The History Boys as a wise elder whose company enriches, even if the message he bears is a tad shopworn."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Mr. Bennett may have serious things on his mind, but he and Mr. Hytner take a cue from the classic entertainers of the music hall: variety and timing are what hold a restless audience's attention. Musical numbers, video sequences, scholarly debates, the acting-out of vintage movie scenes, moments of shocking emotional nakedness and wry internal monologues travel cheek by jowl here, with a cast in which every member stands out as an individual worthy of attention. Then there is the lure of Mr. Bennett's dialogue, as shimmering and warming as a fine Cognac. As befits a play about precocious, irreverent students—a category to which the 71-year-old Mr. Bennett still seems, on some level, to belong—The History Boys is a bright brooder with a strong streak of the showoff."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "Alan Bennett's The History Boys, which came to the Broadhurst Theatre last night trailing clouds of glory and awards from London's National Theatre, could well emerge as the cult hit of the season. So I'm sorry to say I found it hopelessly overblown, overhyped and overrated. Admittedly, it has one indelible stage portrait from Richard Griffiths—a hitherto underrated actor in the role of his lifetime—and beautifully calibrated performances from the terrific Frances de la Tour and an admirable newcomer, Stephen Campbell Moore. The play itself—despite what you'll hear elsewhere—isn't up to much, though it's full of sterling production values and deftly staged by Nicholas Hytner."

David Rooney of Variety: "This very British play from that peerless observer of English life, Alan Bennett, is in many ways sprawling and untidy, but invigoratingly alive with ideas. And Nicholas Hytner's superb production also is alive with an unruly energy that mirrors the sexual and intellectual vitality of the gifted lads at the play's center."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Directed by the National's artistic head, Nicholas Hytner, The History Boys is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally affecting. And very, very funny. It's filled with warm, often gentle humor, a comic spirit that grows out of situation and character."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "This is ebullient, crackling, miraculous theate—as moving as it is intellectually extravagant, as entertaining and humane as its description sounds Byzantine and overeducated. The impeccably smart and endearing young actors play together as if they've been embodying these characters for years."