The History Boys

Act One

As the play begins, Irwin is in his forties and in a wheelchair. He is addressing a group of unspecified Members of Parliament (MPs). He is counselling them on an upcoming bill to be presented in parliament, and how they should conduct themselves during the live, televised debate. He compares it to being back in school, teaching once more...

In a classroom in Cutler’s Grammar School, Sheffield, eight sixth form boys enter and extravagantly remove their teacher’s motorcycle gear, presenting each item in French to the audience as they do so. Hector, their eccentric teacher, congratulates them for passing their A Levels, but he is now in charge of preparing them for the entrance exams to Oxford and Cambridge Universities (‘Oxbridge’). The boys joke that Hector needs to stop hitting them and treat them with respect now that they are potential scholarship boys, but Hector mocks their aspirations with a parody of despair as he questions why they are determined that only Oxford and