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Storyline: In the mid-1980s the headmaster at the British equivalent of a
high school brings in a teacher he feels will put the proper emphasis on
preparation for the "A-Level Exams" which, like our SATs, determine the
collegiate opportunities of the seniors. His style contrasts sharply with
that of a long-time member of the faculty whose emphasis is on learning for
the love of learning. A class of eight young men are caught between them
until the older teacher is spied taking inappropriate liberties with one of
his boys.
Alan Bennett first came to
fame in the revue Beyond the Fringe nearly fifty years ago (with Dudley
Moore and Peter Cook) and has earned awards for both performing and writing
ever since. He fills this script with witty one liners, as you would expect,
but also with serious issues. It is that combination that makes the piece so
satisfying. As soon as you think you are rolling along with a comic riff, it
reaches a punch line that is more thoughtful than mirthful, and then, just
as things start to get a bit heavy, there is a burst of laughter to release
the pressure. The play was an instant hit when it premiered in this
production at the National Theatre in London under director Nicholas Hytner.
The performances of the
adults are, just like their roles, more complex and fully formed.
Bennett fleshes out their characters with more detail and depth giving the
greatest opportunities to the likes of Richard Griffiths - memorably witty
and avuncular as the lover of learning - and Stephen Campbell Moore who
manages to keep his character from seeming archly anti-intellectual even if
Mr. Bennett's preference for the views of the former is never far from the
surface. Griffiths has been most highly praised for his work here and it is
easy to see why, although at one point he does seem to slip from being the
character to being an actor portraying the character. Both Griffiths and Moore repeat their highly honored performances
from the London production as do practically the entire cast. Frances de la
Tour keeps the role of the sole feminine influence in this male-run boys
school from seeming too mushy - after all, her character had to learn how to
function in that testosterone-tinged world. The younger performers have
more funny lines and less multifaceted personalities, but each comes across
as a distinct individual and the ensemble works well together. Two years
after the opening in London, the cast does not seem to have begun to outgrow
its youthful look of high school seniors.
The set features a pair of
sliding wall panels that arrange themselves in different configurations for
scenes in the class room, the headmaster's office or the teachers' lounge.
Strangely, for Broadway at least, the sliding is quite noisy drawing
attention away from even the short scenelets performed stage left to cover
scene changes. The back wall of the playing space serves as a screen for Ben
Taylor's black and white filmed sequences which look like a home movie
version of a school's year book, possibly even an audio-visual project of
the students.
Written by Alan Bennett.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner. Videos directed by Ben Taylor. Design: Bob
Crowley (set and costumes) Mark Henderson (lights) Richard Sisson (music)
Colin Pink (sound). Cast: Samuel Anderson, Samuel Barnett, Bill Buell,
Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Rudi Dharmalingam, Frances de la Tour, Sacha
Dhawan, Richard Griffiths, Andrew Knott, LeRoy McClain, Clive Merrison,
Stephen Campbell Moore, Jamie Parker, Pippa Pearthree, Alex Tonetta, Russell
Tovey, Jeffrey Withers.
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