History Theatre / TheHistoryBoys

* ActorAllusion: At one point it is said of Mr. Hector that he likes poet W.H. Auden. Creator/RichardGriffiths played Auden in ''The Habit of Art'' also written by Alan Bennett.

A stage play by Creator/AlanBennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] in TheEighties as they prepare to sit the UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

A stage play by Creator/AlanBennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

* YouMakeMeSic: A variation: "Actually Hector would like that — 'your sucking me off'. It's a gerund. He likes gerunds."

->'''Dakin:''' Are we scarred for life, do you think?
->'''Scripps:''' We must hope so.

* HotForTeacher[=/=]HotForStudent: Mr. Hector falls under this generally while Dakin's pursuit of Mr. Irwin is a more specific example. The headmaster's interest in Fiona is treated analogously, but doesn't quite fit the trope.

-->'''Timms''': Most of the stuff poetry's about hasn't happened to us yet!
-->'''Hector''': But it will, Timms, it will. And when it does you'll have the antidote ready.

* SchoolTeachers: {{Deconstructed}} one teacher at a time. Mr. Hector is the CoolTeacher who habitually gropes his pupils and is a "bit of a shambles". Mrs. Lintott is set up to be the SternTeacher but is very nice and the most stable teacher, so to speak. Mr. Irwin is the [[strike:HotTeacher]] deconstruction of types like [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Mr. Keating]], popular with the students, but with some rather extreme views that nonetheless as a person he has difficulty living up to. The HippieTeacher is always miffed that no one is taking her subject seriously; the Overly Religious Gym Teacher is a parody of, well, both of those things, and DeanBitterman, though mostly played straight, is actually shown to be in a difficult situation by the end of the film and delivers a pretty decent WhatTheHellHero speech to the CoolTeacher.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: In the film there is a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] one. In the play it's just depressing.

** Don't dismiss the Holocaust in front of Scripps or Posner.

* FiredTeacher: Hector is not technically fired but pressured to resign after [[spoiler: he is seen fondling a student on his motorbike.]], but it's also, to some degree, a way to get rid of him and his teaching style. [[spoiler: Hector is ultimately able to get his job back, after pressure from Dakin, but Hector is killed in an accident on his way home from school anyway]].

* {{Hot for Teacher}}[=/=]{{Hot for Student}}: Mr. Hector falls under this generally while Dakin's pursuit of Mr. Irwin is a more specific example. The headmaster's interest in Fiona is treated analogously, but doesn't quite fit the trope.

* SchoolTeachers: ''The History Boys'' deconstructs these one teacher at a time. Mr. Hector is the CoolTeacher who habitually gropes his pupils and is a "bit of a shambles". Mrs. Lintott is set up to be the SternTeacher but is very nice and the most stable teacher, so to speak. Mr. Irwin is the [[strike:HotTeacher]] deconstruction of types like [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Mr. Keating]], popular with the students, but with some rather extreme views that nonetheless as a person he has difficulty living up to. The HippieTeacher is always miffed that no one is taking her subject seriously; the Overly Religious Gym Teacher is a parody of, well, both of those things, and DeanBitterman, though mostly played straight, is actually shown to be in a difficult situation by the end of the film and delivers a pretty decent WhatTheHellHero speech to the CoolTeacher.

A stage play by Creator/AlanBennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the UseulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

A stage play by Creator/AlanBennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the {{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The subjunctive.

* BilingualBonus: The completely hilarious French class scene is left untranslated, and is not terribly short either. There isn't one on the DVD, but some productions will include one in the program.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The death of Hector and the fate of some of the boys.]]

* TheAce: Dakin

* TheEighties
* {{Ephebophile}}: Hector.

* SchoolTeachers: ''The History Boys'' deconstructs these one teacher at a time. Mr. Hector is the CoolTeacher who habitually gropes his pupils and is a "bit of a shambles". Mrs. Lintott is set up to be the SternTeacher but is very nice and the most stable teacher, so to speak. Mr. Irwin is the [[strike:HotTeacher]] deconstruction of types like [[DeadPoetsSociety Mr. Keating]], popular with the students, but with some rather extreme views that nonetheless as a person he has difficulty living up to. The HippieTeacher is always miffed that no one is taking her subject seriously; the Overly Religious Gym Teacher is a parody of, well, both of those things, and DeanBitterman, though mostly played straight, is actually shown to be in a difficult situation by the end of the film and delivers a pretty decent WhatTheHellHero speech to the CoolTeacher.

->'''Dakin''': "Are we scarred for life, do you think?"
->'''Scripps''': "We must hope so."

* ButThisIsRidiculous:
-->"'You can suck me off next week'! I've heard of a busy schedule but this is ridiculous."

A stage play by Alan Bennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the {{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

* DeadpanSnarker: Being AlanBennett, you're in for a World of Snark, but Scripps stands out for sheer driness.

** The boys are technically adults[[note]]Though under the English legal age of consent for male homosexual acts at the time the play is set (21).[[/note]]. While that doesn't excuse what Hector does, the Headmaster is a bigot and a hypocrite for damning Hector's behaviour while he himself gropes his (female) secretary, who is about the same age as the boys.

A stage play by Alan Bennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the {{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[note]]Possibly.[[/note]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

->Dakin: "Are we scarred for life, do you think?"
->Scripps: "We must hope so."

A stage play by Alan Bennett and later a 2006 film, ''The History Boys'' follows a group of mostly bright students from a Sheffield [[BritishEducationSystem grammar school]] as they prepare to sit the {{Oxbridge}} examinations, all hoping to study history. Taught their facts by Mrs. Lintott and culture by the inspirational Mr. Hector, they suddenly find things shaken up by the arrival of the temporary contract teacher Mr. Irwin, who aims to get them through their exams by cheating.[[hottip:* :Possibly.]] Throughout the term, issues arise between the different teachers and [[DeanBitterman the headmaster]] about how and what the boys should be taught, while the boys themselves grapple with their relationships to their classmates, their goals and their teachers. The movie deals frankly with both student-teacher relationships and the perceptions of homosexuality in the 1980s, but despite its serious moments, it never loses its razor wit, ultimately managing to be both thought-provoking and fun.

** The boys are technically adults[[hottip:*:Though under the English legal age of consent for male homosexual acts at the time the play is set (21).]]. While that doesn't excuse what Hector does, the Headmaster is a bigot and a hypocrite for damning Hector's behaviour while he himself gropes his (female) secretary, who is about the same age as the boys.
* BilingualBonus: The completely hilarious french class scene is left untranslated, and is not terribly short either. There isn't one on the DVD, but some productions will include one in the program.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The death of Hector and the fate of some of the boys]]

-->"Hector, a grope is a grope. It is not the Annunciation."

-->Timms: Most of the stuff poetry's about hasn't happened to us yet!
-->Hector: But it will, Timms, it will. And when it does you'll have the antidote ready.

* EverybodySmokes: Or at least, a lot of the students and all of the teachers do at some point or another.
* EveryoneIsBi: With the massive amount of HoYay, and the fact that Hector has a wife and that Dakin has a girlfriend, it seems like almost everyone is flexible to some degree.