Producers have announced the casting for the brand new UK tour of Alan Bennett’s multi award-winning The History Boys.
The play, voted the nation’s favourite in a poll organised by English Touring Theatre, has won over 30 major awards including the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best New Play.
It tells the story of a group of bright, funny and unruly sixth-formers in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university.
Their maverick English teacher is at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher, whilst their headmaster is obsessed with results and league tables. Staffroom rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence overflow, provoking insistent questions about history and how you teach it.
Their A Levels may be over, but their true education is only just beginning…
The History Boys premiered at the National Theatre in 2004 and helped launch the careers of many of its original cast members, including James Corden and Dominic Cooper.
It also had a successful run on Broadway in 2006 and was also turned into a film adaptation featuring the original stage cast.
This brand new production for 2015 is presented by Sell a Door Theatre, whose recent productions include Avenue Q (2014 UK Tour), Spring Awakening (2011 UK Tour) and Seussical (West End).
Cast members include:
Richard Hope | Hector
Theatre includes: King Lear (Almeida Theatre), Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre), When the Rain Stops Falling (Almeida Theatre), Noises Off (Ambassadors Theatre), Donkey’s Years (UK Tour), Cymbeline (The Globe), Hard Fruit (Royal Court) and War and Peace, Pravda, Hamlet and The Government Inspector (all National Theatre). Television includes: Doctor Who (BBC), Midsomer Murders (ITV), New Tricks (BBC), Tipping the Velvet (BBC) and Brideshead Revisited (Granada).
Kedar Williams-Stirling | Dakin
Kedar is know to television audiences as series regular Tom Okinawe in Wolfblood (BBC). Other television includes Doctors (BBC) and Silent Witness (BBC). Theatre includes: Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre) and Big White Fog (Almeida Theatre).
Steven Roberts | Posner
Steven is known to television audiences as George Smith in Hollyoaks (Channel 4), a role he played for 3 years. Credits whilst training include: Arcadia and Measure for Measure (Arts Educational).
Christopher Ettridge | Headmaster
Theatre includes: Twelve Angry Men (Garrick Theatre), Middlemarch (Orange Tree), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regent’s Park), Death of a Salesman (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Talking To Terrorists (Royal Court), Democracy, (National Theatre) and Henry VI and Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company). Television includes: Mr Selfridge, EastEnders and Goodnight Sweetheart (6 series).
Mark Field | Irwin
Theatre includes: I Have Never (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Conquest of the South Pole (Arcola Theatre), The Critic (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Water’s Edge (Arcola Theatre), The Grapes of Wrath (Chichester Festival Theatre) and An Inspector Calls (National Theatre). Film includes: Brideshead Revisited.
Susan Twist | Mrs. Lintott
Theatre includes: Hobson’s Choice (Octagon Theatre), The Market (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Ballroom Blitz (Hull Truck), Love on the Dole (Octagon Theatre) and Everybody Loves a Winner (Manchester Royal Exchange). Television includes: Scott & Bailey (ITV), Being Eileen (BBC), In the Flesh (BBC), Doctors (BBC) and The Royal (Yorkshire Television).
Sid Sagar | Akthar
Theatre includes: True Brits (High Tide/Bush Theatre), Eternal Love (English Touring Theatre) and The Taming of the Shrew (The Globe). Television Includes: The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (BBC) and The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (ITV).
Matthew Durkan | Crowther
Theatre includes: The Cherry Orchard (New Wimbledon Studio), Painted Faces (The Vault Festival), and Pot Noodles and Knickers (Etcetera Theatre).
Patrick McNamee | Lockwood
Credits whilst training include: Sweeney Todd, A Few Good Men and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (LAMDA).
David Young | Rudge
The History Boys marks David’s professional debut. Credits whilst training include: Attempts on Her Life, The School of Night and The Revenger’s Tragedy (LAMDA).
Alex Hope | Scripps
Theatre includes: First Episode (Primavera Productions). Credits whilst training include You Can’t Take It With You, Spring Awakening and Epsom Downs (Royal Welsh College).
Joshua Mayes-Cooper | Timms
Theatre includes: Operation Crucible (Finborough Theatre), Chapel Street (UK Tour), and Seven (Invertigo). Television includes: Doctors (BBC), Silk (BBC) and Holby City (BBC).
Chris Barritt | TV Director
Theatre includes: Maurice’s Jubilee (UK Tour), Basket Case (Chichester Festival Theatre), A Peaceful Resolution (Old Red Lion Theatre), The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre), The Birthday Party (Duchess Theatre) and She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre). Television includes: Emmerdale (Yorkshire Television).
Melody Brown | Fiona
Theatre includes: Bubbles (Watermill Theatre), The First Chinese Emperor (Yellow Earth), Fungus the Bogeyman (Pilot Theatre Company) and The Tempest (Marlow Theatre, Canterbury). Television includes: EastEnders (BBC).
TOUR SCHEDULE
MONDAY 26 – SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2015
PALACE THEATRE, SOUTHEND
TUESDAY 3 – SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2015
COVENTRY BELGRADE THEATRE
MONDAY 9 – SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2015
BRIGHTON THEATRE ROYAL
MONDAY 16 – SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2015
HULL NEW THEATRE
MONDAY 23 – SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2015
BIRMINGHAM ALEXANDRA THEATRE
TUESDAY 3 – SATURDAY 7 MARCH 2015
WINCHESTER THEATRE ROYAL
MONDAY 9 – SATURDAY 14 MARCH 2015
WINDSOR THEATRE ROYAL
TUESDAY 17 – SATURDAY 21 MARCH 2015
EDINBURGH KINGS THEATRE
MONDAY 23 – SATURDAY 28 MARCH 2015
NEW WOLSEY THEATRE, IPSWICH
ON SALE 18 OCTOBER
MONDAY 30 MARCH – SATURDAY 4 APRIL 2015
CHELTENHAM EVERYMAN THEATRE
ON SALE SOON
TUESDAY 14 – SATURDAY 18 APRIL 2015
BLACKPOOL GRAND THEATRE
WEDNESDAY 22 – SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2015
KINGS THEATRE, PORTSMOUTH
ON SALE SOON
MONDAY 27 APRIL – SATURDAY 2 MAY 2015
CHURCHILL THEATRE, BROMLEY
TUESDAY 5 – SATURDAY 9 MAY 2015
CREWE LYCEUM
TUESDAY 12 – SATURDAY 16 MAY 2015
MILLENIUM FORUM, LONDONDERRY
TUESDAY 19 – SATURDAY 23 MAY 2015
BUXTON OPERA HOUSE
TUESDAY 26 – SATURDAY 30 MAY 2015
EXETER NORTHCOTT THEATRE
MONDAY 1 – SATURDAY 6 JUNE 2015
SWINDON WYVERN THEATRE
MONDAY 8 – SATURDAY 13 JUNE 2015
YORK OPERA HOUSE
TUESDAY 16 – SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2015
DARLINGTON CIVIC THEATRE
TUESDAY 23 – SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2015
GUILDFORD YVONNE ARNAUD
ON SALE SOON
TUESDAY 30 JUNE – SATURDAY 4 JULY 2015
MALVERN THEATRE