The History Boys

New Cellars, Pembroke College

"History nowadays is not a matter of conviction. Itâ??s a performance. Itâ??s entertainment. And if it isnâ??t, make it so."

Yorkshire, 1983. 8 unruly grammar-school pupils are competing with the best in the country for places at Cambridge and Oxford. They are helped (or perhaps hindered) in their efforts by two radically different teachers, one who is struggling to resist the eroticism of transmission of knowledge, and another who seems to think history is all a game. Meanwhile they struggle through the perils of adolescent love, sex, and the problem of how to cheat a system that's been around for hundreds of years.

"What is history? History is women following behind with a bucket."