Nicholas Hytner has said he aspires to bring creativity back to the classroom as he prepares to revive his award-winning production of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys in London’s West End in 2027, two decades after its original run.
The production will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket will preview on April 10, 2027, running until July 24.
It will reunite Hytner with original designer Bob Crowley, with Bennett also involved in the development.
First staged at the National Theatre in 2004, the play follows eight boys preparing for university entrance exams, as two teachers take contrasting approaches to education, and explores whether learning should be pursued for academic achievement or for its own sake, alongside themes of intellectual curiosity, adolescence and sexuality.
Hytner, who also directed the 2006 film adaptation, believes the play's themes remain particularly relevant as a new generation grows up in a world shaped by social media and artificial intelligence.
He said: “It feels as if so much of what state education was focused on in the last 20 years is proving to be beside the point, when AI can do so much of what pupils were being prepared to do.”
“Schools could do a lot worse than introduce pupils to creativity, and to delight in other people’s creativity.”
The revival also comes amid the government’s first major revision of the national curriculum and GCSEs in over a decade. A revised curriculum is expected in spring 2027, with implementation from 2028.
Hytner warned that humanities subjects had been increasingly neglected in state schools.
“There has been a decline of humanities subjects in state schools, an almost terminal decline of music and drama teaching, history and modern languages have been downgraded,” he said.
“But it has obviously been a mistake, both for the individual pupil and our economic future, to neglect the humanities.”
The History Boys is one of the happiest plays I’ve written. Or rather, it was one of the happiest of my plays to write,” Bennett added.
“It was also one of the quickest to set down, taking far less than my usual five years. So, something of a record for me.
“The play is full of quotes and has itself become eminently quotable. A joy for any playwright. I welcome its return under Nicholas Hytner.”
The original production transferred from the National Theatre to the West End and Broadway, winning three Olivier Awards and six Tony Awards. It also helped launch the careers of James Corden, Russell Tovey and Dominic Cooper.
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