“Study Henry VIII if you want to know about Stalin, Hitler, or Hollywood,” advises Hector (Bob Colonna) in Alan Bennett’s play “The History Boys,” currently being performed under the direction of Scott Edmiston of the SpeakEasy Stage Company.
Extended for two weeks due to sellout crowds, for anyone interested in history, literature, education, and the trials and tribulations which accompany adolescence, “The History Boys” well warrants a trip to the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion in Boston’s South End.
Sunday afternoon, accompanied by several friends and former educators, I made my way to the sixth row and enjoyed the lines, performances, music, set, themes, and even the reactions of several members of the audience who sat close enough by to hear their remarks and musings over a script that subtly tells about the difficulty educators face when they find themselves at philosophical odds with administrators and fellow educators because they value truth and wisdom and foster a passion for learning and strive to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
At times I experienced momentary flashbacks to “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”
In Bennett’ play, two generations collide when a headmaster brings in a younger teacher, Tom Irwin (Chris Thorn), to contend with Hector and to try to get him to shift his paradigm and embrace a more practical pedagogy that enhances test scores, wins improved college admissions, while calling on students to reshape history and truth to suit their own needs.
Irwin tries to convince Hector and his class of eight boys, which they come to share, that if they are going to distinguish themselves, they have to learn to write cleverly and use irony and contradiction. He coaches them to surprise their readers even when they might be asked to write about Hitler or Stalin. He prods them to say something no one else would dare to say. He suggests, for example, “Why not argue that Hitler and Stalin got a bad rap?”
Irwin stresses the importance of spin and says it will count more than the students’ understanding. He places an emphasis on “subjective history” and the need to address what might have happened.
The play, which is filled with witty lines and comedic performances and includes numerous quotations from great literature, pop culture, history, the theater and film, should please anyone who has enjoyed time in the classroom. From a teaching perspective, for a moment it made me want to go back and teach at the secondary level again so I could spend more time with students similar to the eight boys who stole my attention and heart from time to time.
Most teachers have met each of the boys at one time or another in their classrooms, each one special in a unique way including athletic skill, good looks, religious fervor, and vocal and dramatic prowess.
But the play did more than stir up nostalgic memories of times I spent on the second floor at Dedham High School. It also nurtured my respect for the playwright, Bennett, who shows impressive insight as to what goes on today in the classroom and in the admissions game whether it is in the United States or across the pond from where he hales. Written in 2005, “The History Boys” focuses on a grammar school classroom in Sheffield, England in 1984, yet it seems more relevant today than ever before.
Last week, I had the opportunity to read “Michel Crichton Vindicated” by Jack Shafer in “Slate Magazine.” It discussed an essay that Crichton sent to print in 1993 in “Wired,” titled “Mediasaurus.” In his essay, Crichton predicted the death of the mass media and the commercial networks by 2002 because they would cease to report quality news and instead spin “chrome and glitz…and basically junk.”
The recent “Slate” article included an interview with Crichton, who admits his date was off but prophesies it will still happen. His reason in essence is that there has been a shift from fact to opinion and speculation. He says there is not enough fact and that too many questions are asked but never really answered by the press.
I suppose “When will Hillary withdraw from the race?” and “Is the mix of politics and religion a recipe for disaster when it comes to the Presidential Race?” are two recent examples of the kinds of questions our media outlets have spent hours and hours on lately while overlooking specific truths and history in the making.
Reversing this trend and preventing Crichton’s prophesy from becoming fact may require Americans and Brits to take a closer look at what goes on in the classroom and to reward those who exhibit a passion for learning and for truth.
Westwood resident Carol Ziemian teaches writing at Northeastern University. Her column appears in the Daily News Transcript on Wednesday. She can be reached at YankeePenn@aol.com.
