Inspiration for a Blogger

The History Boys 

by Alan Bennett

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours." (p.56)





Today is the birthday of British playwright and humorist Alan Bennet.  I note this because, when in January, 2007, I began this blog in earnest, it was Bennett, more than anything else, that was the inspiration for my doing so; specifically, his play The History Boys and the film version of it that had premiered a few months earlier.

The play is a great read for many reasons and all of them deeply resonated with me.  Most important was the devotion to the importance of language (centered on the "dictionary" boy role of Posner) and music and ideas, more clearly emphasized in the play than in the screenplay for the film (also written by Bennett).  

The play contrasts the differing perspectives on education of the two lead teachers (Hector and Irwin). Without the need to "open up" demanded by film Bennett focuses on the schoolroom and uses subtle effects to demonstrate his dramatic purpose. One aspect of the play that stands out is the multiple narrators throughout the drama. Bennett is at his epigrammatic best and the audiences in New York showed their appreciation of this as noted by the reviews. He is successful in creating a delightful dramatic and comedic portrayal of ideas, all while evoking the spirit of bright young scholars at a key turning point in their lives. With reference to and in the spirit of Shakespeare he dramatizes events in and outside of the classroom touching on both the desires of the heart and the wonders of imaginative young minds.

The battle between educational styles centers on the approaches to teaching of the teachers Hector (the idealistic humanist) and Irwin (practical and pragmatic). The foundation for the boys is Mrs. Lintott's straightforward, perhaps old-fashioned, approach to teaching history which has produced "well taught" boys; however that is not enough to assure them success in achieving entrance to Oxford or Cambridge. The headmaster, in his "wisdom" adds into the mix a young teacher just up from Oxford to give the students an "edge". It is his, Mr. Irwin's, pragmatic method which uses paradox and the subjunctive.  He aims to turn the historical facts upside-down, with little regard for the "truth" of the situation providing the "history boys" the ammunition to go to battle with the methods of Hector, the humanistic "general studies" teacher who attempts to enlist the boys into a conspiracy against the world and the "education" they are supposedly receiving.

"Mrs. Lintott: They're all clever. I saw to that.
Hector: You give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it."
-
"Scripps: But it's all true.
Irwin: What has that got to do with it? What has that got to do with anything?"


With all of this battle of educational styles there added an undercurrent of eroticism, both due to the nature of education itself, as Hector points out, and due to the psychological tensions among Dakin and his two admirers, Posner and Irwin. This combination, which explodes at times to produce riveting moments of theater, is what makes this play great. That and the magnificent literary style of Bennett that has continued to inspire me to this day.

The Craft and Art of Poetry

The Habit Of Art 
by Alan Bennett


"Auden   Do you always mean what you write?

Britten   In the sense that Shostakovich somestimes doesn't?  I think so.  Don't you?

Auden   I do now.  But I didn't always.  When I was young I used to leave meaning to chance.  If it sounded right I let the meaning take care of itself.  It's why I find some of my early stuff so embarrassing."

  -  Alan Bennett, The Habit of Art.



Reading a play is often more difficult than viewing a play. It is certainly different in many ways. Yesterday I had the opportunity to see the The Habit of Art By Alan Bennett as presented via a rebroadcast of National Theatre (of London) Live’s 2010 broadcast.  Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths and Alex Jennings, was offered by the Music Box Theatre cinema as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations.

The story of the play is simple: Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W. H. Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. The actual play as written by Alan Bennett is a bit more complicated. It is staged as a play within a play, thus the audience sees the actors and the stage management perform a run-through of the play, late in its preparation for its formal presentation. This was somewhat more complicated in the reading than when viewing the play. One difference is the experience, when viewing the play, of the action of the play within the play seeming to evolve from the action of the characters who are making it happen.  This is difficult to describe, but it was quite wonderfully amazing when experienced.  
In addition to the main story of the Auden/Britten meeting the work of the actors is interrupted from time to time by discussions of changes to the script, questions of appropriate location of certain scenes and other issues that one might naturally encounter while preparing to stage a play. This aspect of the play was rather fascinating as the audience was provided a look inside the world of the theater. It reminded me a bit of the play "Noises Off!" by Michael Frayn in this aspect although it was not nearly as anarchic as that wonderful comedy. 

The poetry of Auden is present in the character and he explains what he does succinctly and simply in the phrase "I have the habit of art." That being said, he has many other very human habits and the play highlights this very human side of Auden, as it does for Britten. The staging is exceptional and the acting superb with Richard Griffiths as Auden, Alex Jennings as Britten, and Frances de la Tour as the Stage Manager.
Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art

View all my reviews

History

Four History Books:

Three Novels and a Play

The Secret History by Donna Tartt


I found this a well told story, but a bit melodramatic for my taste. It is a book that was recommended by a friend - a voracious, but indiscriminate reader. The book surprised me as I was drawn in by the characters and their relationships. I guess this is one of those so-called "page-turners" for I literally could not put this down for days while I tried to find out what was going to happen next. It succeeded in defying my expectations and I'm not sure if I reread it that I would no find it just as readable and surprising that I did the first time. This was a lightweight entertainment, but very successful at that level.


The History of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago


My favorite of Saramago's novels is The History of the Siege of Lisbon in which Raimundo Silva, a proofreader at a Portuguese publishing house alters a key word i a text to make it read that in 1147 the king of Portugal reconquered Lisbon from the Saracens without any assistance from the Crusaders. After doing this he is inexplicably encouraged by his supervisor, Maria Sara, to rewrite the entire history of the siege. From this kernel the novel develops into a complex meditation on the meaning of both history and words as well as a romance and parable of life under authoritarian rule. Saramago's prose style does take some extra effort to adjust to with long paragraphs and serpentine sentences, but it is worth the effort and, like Faulkner and others with difficult prose styles, repays the reader who perseveres. While I have not read all of Saramago's novels this one stands out among those I have read as his best.


The History of Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells


Mr. Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire to lead the bewildered Mr. Polly to a bright new future after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a world of heroism and hope.


The History Boys by Alan Bennett


The award-winning play by Alan Bennett is a great read. More devoted to the influence of words (the "dictionary" boy role of Posner) and music than the later screenplay, the play emphasizes the differing perspectives on education of the two lead teachers (Hector and Irwin). Without the need to "open up" demanded by film Bennett focuses on the schoolroom and uses subtle effects to effect his dramatic purpose. One aspect of the play that stands out is the multiple narrators throughout the drama. He is at his epigrammatic best and the performances in New York showed this as noted by the Advocate review. Bennett is successful in creating a delightful dramatic and comedic portrayal of ideas, all while evoking the spirit of bright young scholars at a key turning point in their lives. With reference to and in the spirit of Shakespeare he is successful in creating a delightful dramatic and comedic portrayal of ideas, all while evoking the spirit of bright young scholars at a key turning point in their lives.The battle between educational styles, the approaches to teaching of each of the teachers, stood out for me. The foundation is Mrs. Lintott's straightforward approach to teaching history which has produced "well taught" boys, but that is not enough. The headmaster, in his "wisdom" adds into the mix a young teacher just up from Oxford to give the students an "edge". It is his, Mr. Irwin's, method that is the one of paradox and turning the historical facts upside-down, with little regard for the "truth" of the situation that will go to battle with the methods of Hector, the "general studies" teacher who is enlisting the boys into a conspiracy against the world and the "education" they are supposedly receiving.


"Mrs. Lintott: They're all clever. I saw to that.
Hector: You give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it."
- - - -
"Scripps: But it's all true.
Irwin: What has that got to do with it? What has that got to do with anything?"


With all of this battle of educational styles there is the undercurrent of eroticism, both due to the nature of education itself, as Hector points out, and due to the psychological tensions among Dakin and his two admirers, Posner and Irwin. This combination, which explodes at times to produce riveting moments of theater, is what makes this play great. That and the magnificent literary style of Bennett.


More History Forthcoming:


The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury; A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes; The Short History of a Prince : A Novel by Jane Hamilton.

The Madness of George III

by Alan Bennett

On Wednesday last I attended the Chicago Shakespeare production of Alan Bennett's play The Madness of George III.  It was the best play of the season at Chicago Shakespeare from my vantage point.  Starting with the tremendous performance by Harry Groener in the lead role everything was outstanding for the afternoon dramatic performance.  The direction of Penny Metropulos, the ensemble, the set and the music came together for a delightful afternoon of comedy.  It certainly helps to start with the words of Alan Bennett, which were presented perfectly.  
Focusing on some historical facts regarding King George III (infamous in America for presiding over our independence and in Britain for the loss of the colonies), Bennett created a play focusing on the question that had arisen of need for a regent as the symptoms of his disease made him appear to be going mad.  With the political machinations of the the Whigs and Tories in Parliament and the desire of his eldest son to control the throne, the suspense built throughout.  The addition of courtiers, court doctors and his loyal Queen provide a mix of relationships that were a bounteous source for comic developments.  


I enjoyed seeing fine performances from familiar actors including Kevin Gudahl, Erik Hellman and Alex Weisman.  But I relished those by actors new to me including Richard Baird as the Prince of Wales and Nathan Hosner as William Pitt.  The music of Handel was present throughout and added to my enjoyment.  There are few playwrights that can present comedy through the delight of witty wordplay any better than Alan Bennett.  Thanks to Chicago Shakespeare for this production.

Beyond the Fringe

I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.

- Alan Bennett

Beyond the Fringe, the British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller, debuted at the Edinburgh Festival fifty years ago today. The show was conceived in 1960 by an Oxford man, Robert Ponsonby, artistic director for the Edinburgh International Festival, with the idea of bringing together the best of the Cambridge Footlights and The Oxford Revue that in previous years had transferred to Edinburgh for short runs. John Bassett, Wadham College, Oxford graduate and assistant to Ponsonby, recommended jazz band mate and rising cabaret talent Dudley Moore, who in turn recommended Alan Bennett, who had been a hit at Edinburgh a few years before. Bassett also identified Jonathan Miller, a Footlights star in 1957. Miller recommended Cook.

It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain. It was a series of satirical sketches and musical pieces using a minimal set, looking at events of the day. Although all of the cast contributed material, the most often-quoted pieces were those by Cook, many of which had appeared before in his Cambridge Footlights revues. The show broke new ground with Peter Cook's impression of then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. The show is credited with giving many other performers the courage to be satirical and more improvised in their manner, and broke the conventions of not lampooning the Royal Family or the government of the day. However, the show wasn't all that satirical, merely making fun of things — such as war films — though even this was a step forward in comedy. Shakespearean drama was another target of their comedy. There were also a number of musical items in the show, using Dudley Moore's music, most famously an arrangement of the Colonel Bogey March which resists Moore's repeated attempts to bring it to an end.

Miller: Get thee to Gloucester, Essex. Do thee to Wessex, Exeter.

Fair Albany to Somerset must eke his route.

And Scroop, do you to Westmoreland, where shall bold York

Enrouted now for Lancaster, with forces of our Uncle Rutland,

Enjoin his standard with sweet Norfolk's host.

Fair Sussex, get thee to Warwicksbourne,

And there, with frowning purpose, tell our plan

To Bedford's tilted ear, that he shall press

With most insensate speed

And join his warlike effort to bold Dorset's side.

I most royally shall now to bed,

To sleep off all the nonsense I've just said.

[They exit. Re-enter all four as rustics.]

Miller: Is it all botched up, then, Master Puke?

Bennett: Aye, and marry is, good Master Snot.

Moore: 'Tis said our Master, the Duke, hath contrived some naughtiness against his son, the King.

Cook: Aye, and it doth confound our merrymaking.

Miller: What say you, Master Puke? I am for Lancaster, and that's to say for good shoe leather.

Cook: Come speak, good Master Puke, or hath the leather blocked up thy tongue?

Moore: Why then go trippingly upon thy laces, good Grit….

from So That's the Way You Like It, Beyond the Fringe

The Only Education Worth Having

The History Boys, redux

Irwin: He was a good man but I do not think there is time for his kind of teaching any more.

Scripps: No. Love apart, it is the only education worth having.




I returned last night to see the current TimeLine Theatre Company production of The History Boys (I had originally seen it the opening weekend) and I came away more impressed than ever. The production is both maturing and evolving and the result is the cast members, the boys especially, are freer and more comfortable in their roles. They seem not even to be acting which is, I guess, the place they want to be. The evening flew by and though it was nearing midnight as the play ended I was ready for more theater. It was that good.


The battle between educational styles, the approaches to teaching of each of the teachers, stood out for me stronger than ever. The foundation is Mrs. Lintott's straightforward approach to teaching history which has produced "well taught" boys, but that is not enough. The headmaster, in his "wisdom" adds into the mix a young teacher just up from Oxford to give the students an "edge". It is his, Mr. Irwin's, method that is the one of paradox and turning the historical facts upside-down, with little regard for the "truth" of the situation that will go to battle with the methods of Hector, the "general studies" teacher who is enlisting the boys into a conspiracy against the world and the "education" they are supposedly receiving.

Mrs. Lintott: They're all clever. I saw to that.
Hector: You give them an education. I give them the wherewithal to resist it.
-
Scripps: But it's all true.
Irwin: What has that got to do with it? What has that got to do with anything?




With all of this battle of educational styles there is the undercurrent of eroticism, both due to the nature of education itself, as Hector points out, and due to the psychological tensions among Dakin and his two admirers, Posner and Irwin. This combination, which explodes at times to produce riveting moments of theater, is what makes this play great. That and the magnificent literary style of Bennett, the acting of the entire ensemble and the brilliant direction of Nick Bowling. Hats off to all the history boys and their teachers.

Education and History

The History Boys
by Alan Bennett

It was with some trepidation that I walked down Broadway Avenue early this afternoon to attend the Chicago premiere of Alan Bennett's play The History Boys presented by the TimeLine Theatre Company.
More than two years ago I fell in love with the film version of the original production which had won awards in both London and New York. While I had not seen the stage version I had read the play and was impressed with Alan Bennett's original vision which had been severely abridged for the film adaptation. I should not have entertained any doubt for, based on previous experience with great plays and performances at TimeLine, I had nothing to worry about.


The History Boys as directed by Nick Bowling makes a vibrant, exciting and ultimately moving evening of theater.  The 
production, with the boys' living spaces highlighting one end of the theater space and a balcony at the other end, once again shows how imaginative the set designers at TimeLine can be in using their limited space, and how successful the company is in presenting the play. Best of all is the cast, from Donald Brearley's moving portrayal of Hector, Terry Hamilton's intense imagining of the Headmaster and Ann Wakefield's sincere realization of Mrs. Lintott; and, above all, the eight effervescent boys who each individually and together as a group convey the difficulties and joy of their preparation for entrance into Oxford and Cambridge. Among the boys, for me, the performances of Will Allan as Scripps and Joel Gross as Dakin stood out as particularly persuasive. Nick Bowling's direction allowed this very literary play to seem natural, balancing the constant dialogue with attention to dramatic silences and plenty of movement in just the right proportion. I must also mention both the effective use of period music during the intervals and the overhead video screens that aided the understanding of the play through timely visuals while providing a few moments of comic relief. The presence of comic relief helped take the edge off the building erotic tension that grew slowly out of the both the complexities of relationships among the main characters and the meaning of education explored in the play. Above all the camaraderie among the boys and their teachers was clearly present throughout the play making the emotions at the end even more effective. TimeLine Theatre Company has clearly taken this modern literary gem from the pen of Alan Bennett and made it their own. Chicagoans should attend, enjoy, and rejoice!

Reading


One of the best statements about reading I have ever read comes in the last moments of the first act of Alan Bennett's play, The History Boys, when Hector says:

The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours. (p.56)

This is a powerful moment in the play and a striking observation about the reader and the act of reading. These moments are rare and worth looking for and remembering. One recent moment, for me, was near the end of Anthony Powell's A Question of Upbringing, when Jenkins realizes that his relationship with Stringham has changed permanently and that this sort of change is part of the natural process of living and growing. These moments are universal and the author that can capture them and share them with the reader has managed to portray the universal in the human experience.


The History Boys: A Play by Alan Bennett. Faber and Faber, New York. 2006 (2004)

Royal Humor

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella 

by Alan Bennett

"The Queen hestitated, because to tell the truth she wasn't sure.  She'd never taken much interest in reading.  She read, of course, as one did, but liking books was something left to other people.  It was a hobby and it was in the nature of her job that she didn't have hobbies."(p 6)

This new novella from the pen of Alan Bennett (author of the The History Boys) is without a doubt the funniest book I have read in recent memory. I started it while riding home on the bus and had a hard time keeping my seat as my laughter was almost nonstop. What a wonderful premise! Imagine the Queen of England patronizing a lending library van, and then imagine her actually reading books. The incongruity of the situation leads to hilarious consequences for the Queen, her family, her household and her subjects. From the title, a not-too-subtle reference to Virginia Woolf, to the end of this book I had a riot of uproariously fun reading. However, amidst all this fun there was a serious message about the nature, power and importance of reading: a subject that must be near and dear to the heart of the author and which all readers will continue to appreciate and wonder upon after the laughter has died away.



"You don't put your life into your books. You find it there."


"Above literature?...Who is above literature? You might as well say one was above humanity." 



View all my reviews

The History Boys
(The Play)

The award-winning play by Alan Bennett, The History Boys, is a great read. More devoted to the influence of words (the "dictionary" boy role of Posner) and music than the later screenplay for the movie (recommended), the play emphasizes the differing perspectives on education of the two lead teachers (Hector and Irwin). Without the need to "open up" demanded by film Bennett focuses on the schoolroom and uses subtle effects to effect his dramatic purpose. He is at his epigrammatic best and the performances in New York showed this as noted by the Advocate review. Bennett is successful in creating a delightful dramatic and comedic portrayal of ideas, all while evoking the spirit of bright young scholars at a key turning point in their lives. Notably, the lead boys (Posner & Dakin) share with their tutors in the pain and possibilities of the erotic nature of education espoused by Hector.

Cinema Comments

The History Boys
(Film based on the Play)

This film is directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett based on his award-winning play. It is a mesmerizing meditation on the meaning of education, history and life. Set in a boys' school in northern England in the early 1980's Bennett creates characters that share wonderfully witty dialogue as they attempt to learn about life, love and themselves; all whilst studiously preparing for the entrance exams and interviews for admittance to Oxford & Cambridge. The boys effortlessly quote Auden, Larkin and Hardy while melding popular culture, enthusiastically acting out cinema endings and singing songs, with their more serious studies; all under the tutelage of their professorial mentor played with grace and tremendous humanity by Richard Griffiths. Bennett's dialogue positively sparkles and borders on the Shakespearian, that is when it is not directly quoting the Bard. The acting by the boys is quite natural; the lead boys, Dakin, Posner and Scripps are especially convincing. I enjoyed reading the screenplay which stands on its own and is a wonderful complement to the film (which bears repeated viewings). It is fascinating the way the screenplay was edited for the final film production. This is definitely my favorite film of 2006. It contains four of my favorite things in life: music, poetry, history and boys.