joe phelan

Alan Bennett's new play The History Boys opens tonight April 23 on Broadway in with its original National Theatre of Great Britian production. The author and the play are not to be missed.

Bennett is legendary in England as one of the original members of the Beyond the Fringe group and the author of the immortal Talking Heads I and II as well as lesser works like the Madness of King George, A Question of Attribution and an Englishman Abroad. See this wikipedia article for more on Bennett
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bennett

The History Boys is set in a boy's boarding school in northern England and deals with the comedy and tragedy of getting an education and what that means. Its on its way to becoming a classic about education up there with Goodbye Mister Chips, the Browning Version and the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
This play is sure to be nominated for the Tony award for best play and I would think it is the odds on favorite to win.

Now the good news. The BBC website has an audio version of the play which you can listen to at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/mxuqy/

This version will only be accessible for a few weeks more but if you read about the play in the next few weeks and want to actually experience it this is your next best bet to going to NYC and fighting for a ticket.