As their entry into this years Thurrock Festival Southend based company Lindisfarne produced one of the finest performances to grace the Thameside stage
The History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where 185 performances were staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.
The play won multiple awards, including the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play.
This production was superb and the best part about it was the cast. Douglas Hector so wonderfully played by the late Richard Griffiths on film was portrayed with equal skill by Peter Nawrat. I don’t think this actor put a foot wrong. Never an imitation of Griffiths but just an essence. He was surrounded by a cast who were as polished as polished could be . The boys were magnificent and larked and jollied across the stage as they listened in awe to their teacher. Supporting Peter were a very able Simon Jones, Ian Morton and Belinda Belt.
Director Steve McCartney had done a brilliant job although some criticism from Adjudicator Louise Manders pointed out wasted stage space , poor lighting cues on occasion and some blocking
On the whole this reviewer loved it and firmly expect it to be among the winners on Saturday
Its such a shame that culture of this standard is ignored by an area that desperately needs a kick up the backside to witness such fine theatre
