NTNY : National Theatre New York : Productions : The History Boys : Cast and Credits

The History Boys
Alan Bennett (Playwright) first appeared on stage in 1960 with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller in the revue Beyond the Fringe. His stage plays are Forty Years On, Habeas Corpus, The Old Country, Getting On, Enjoy, Kafka’s Dick, An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution (1988, staged together at the National as Single Spies, with Bennett directing the former and appearing in both), an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (NT 1990,1991,1993 and 1994), The Madness of George III (NT 1991 & 1992, also touring America, Greece and Israel), The Lady in the Van, and several of the monologues from the Talking Heads collection: A Chip in the Sugar, A Lady of Letters, and A Woman of No Importance (which he also directed and appeared in, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Entertainment and Most Outstanding Performance in a Musical or Entertainment), Bed Among the Lentils and Soldiering On (which he also directed). His work for television includes A Day Out, Sunset Across the Bay, A Visit from Miss Prothero, Me, I’m Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Doris and Doreen, The Old Crowd, Afternoon Off, One Fine Day, All Day on the Sands, Intensive Care (in which he played the leading role), Our Winnie, Marks, Rolling Home, Say Something Happened, A Woman of No Importance, An Englishman Abroad, The Insurance Man, 102 Boulevard Haussmann and two collections of Talking Heads monologues, the second of which won the South Bank Show Award for Best Drama. Films include A Private Function, Prick Up Your Ears, The Madness of King George (nominated for two Oscars). Writing Home, his collection of prose pieces, was published by Faber in 1994. Another volume of autobiography, Untold Stories, came out in 2005.

Nicholas Hytner (Director) is Director of the National Theatre. His work includes productions at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, Leeds Playhouse, and Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, where he was Associate Director. He has directed Measure for Measure, The Tempest and King Lear for the RSC. For the National: Ghetto, The Wind in the Willows, The Madness of George III, The Recruiting Officer, Carousel, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Winter’s Tale, Mother Clap’s Molly House and, as Director of the NT, Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 and Southwark Fair. Other work in London includes Miss Saigon, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cressida, The Lady in the Van, and Orpheus Descending; in New York Carousel, Twelfth Night, and Sweet Smell of Success. Opera includes productions for Kent Opera, ENO, Glyndebourne, Paris Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Geneva Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. Films: The Madness of King George, The Crucible, The Object of My Affection and The History Boys.

Samuel Anderson (Crowther) appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and the film of The History Boys. His other work in theatre includes Talking Loud at the Latchmere. TV includes “Wannabes,” “Totally Frank,” “Hex - Series 1,” “Kings Crusades,” “Doctors and Sons,” “Daughters and Lovers”.

Joseph Attenborough (Company) trained at Rose Bruford College. He appeared in the original stage production of The History Boys. His other work in theatre includes Single Spies at York Theatre Royal; Romeo and Juliet at the Bedlam Theatre; Threepenny Opera at Battersea Arts Centre; Winnie the Witch for Watershed Productions, on national tour; and most recently Lysistrata at the Arcola, for which he also provided the music. Short films include Choice!, Fresh Out of Tears and Fag. Radio includes Sons and Lovers for Radio 4.

Tom Attwood (Company/Music Director) trained at Rose Bruford College. His work includes The History Boys, both in the original production at the National and for radio; Twelfth Night for ETC; Christmas Cat and The Pudding Pirates for Kit Thacker and Spot’s Birthday Party at Oxford Playhouse and on tour. Work as Music Director includes The Threepenny Opera at the BAC; Bugsy Malone for The Bridewell and NewsRevue for the Canal Café Theatre. He is Festival Director for the Pendley Shakespeare Festival, where he has written scores for Henry V and The Winter’s Tale.

Samuel Barnett (Posner) trained at LAMDA. He appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and the film of The History Boys. Other theatre includes His Dark Materials at the National, When You Cure Me at the Bush Theatre; The Marriage of Figaro for the Royal Exchange, Manchester, The Accrington Pals for Chichester Festival Theatre and Frankenstein at the Open Air Theatre. TV includes “The Royal,” “Strange,” “Inspector Linley” and “Coupling”. Film includes Mrs Henderson Presents. Radio includes Fighting for Words and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Dominic Cooper (Dakin) trained at LAMDA. He appeared in the original stage production, radio version and the film of The History Boys. Other theatre includes Will in His Dark Materials and Mother Clap’s Molly House at the National; Caryl Churchill Event at the Royal Court and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the RSC. TV includes “Down to Earth,” “Sparkling Cyanide,” “The Gentleman Thief,” “Davison’s Eyes – HG Wells,” “Band of Brothers” and “Jericho”. Films include Boudica, I’ll Be There, Anazapta, The Final Curtain, From Hell, Starter for Ten and Breakfast on Pluto.

James Corden (Timms) appeared in the original stage production, radio version and the film of The History Boys. His other theatre work includes Martin Guerre at the Prince Edward. TV includes four series of “Fat Friends,” “Dalziel & Pascoe,” “Judge John Deed,” “Teachers,” “Boyz Unlimited,” “Cruise of the Gods,” “Jack and the Beanstalk – The Real Story” and “The Bill”. Film includes Heroes and Villains, The Last Hangman, Starter for Ten, Heartlands, All or Nothing, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith and Twentyfourseven. He is co-writing a new comedy drama for Baby Cow Productions for the BBC.

Frances de la Tour (Mrs Lintott) trained at the Drama Centre in London from 1961 - 64, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company until 1971, where her work included Hoyden in The Relapse and Helena in Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. For the National, plays include Brighton Beach Memoirs, Les Parents Terribles, the title role in St Joan, The Good Hope and The History Boys. Her other work for theatre includes Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings, the title role in Hamlet, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, Antony and Cleopatra for the RSC, and Noël Coward's Fallen Angels (Variety Club Best Actress Award). She has won three Olivier awards: in 1980 for Best A ctress in Tom Kempinski's Duet for One, for which she also won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award; in 1984 for Best Actress in a Revival for Moon for the Misbegotten; and in 1992 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for When She Danced. Her work for TV includes the 1970s sitcom Rising Damp, Duet for One (BAFTA Best Actress nomination), Waking the Dead, Poirot: Death on the Nile, and recently Miss Marple - The Moving Finger and Sensitive Skin. Films include Rising Damp (Evening Standard Best Actress Award); the recent Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, playing Madame Olympe Maxime; and The History Boys, which is to be released later this year.

Rudi Dharmalingam (Company) trained at Salford University. He appeared in the original stage production of The History Boys. His other work in theatre includes Playing With Fire at the National; Tom’s Midnight Garden at the Unicorn; Ferdinand in The Tempest, E To The Power 3 and The Dispute at the Robert Powell Theatre; Anorak of Fire at the Adelphi Studio Theatre and The Geri Project at Oldham Coliseum. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. TV includes “Cutting It”.

Sacha Dhawan (Akthar) appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and the film of The History Boys. Other theatre includes Skater Boy at Theatre Royal Stratford East; Monkery at the Royal Court; The Witches and East is East for Leicester Haymarket, and Borstal Boy on the Edinburgh Fringe. TV includes “Perfectly Frank,” “Weirdsister College,” “Altogether Now,” “City Central,” “The Last Train” and “Out of Sight II & III”. Films include Karim in Karim’s Story. Radio includes Silver Street and Chocky.

Richard Griffiths (Hector) appeared in the original stage production of The History Boys. His other work in theatre includes Luther at the National; Heroes and Art at Wyndham’s Theatre; The White Guard, Once in a Lifetime (also at the Piccadilly), the title role in Henry VIII, Volpone and Red Star for the RSC; The Man Who Came To Dinner and Katherine Howard at Chichester; and Heartbreak House, the title role in Galileo and Rules of the Game at the Almeida. TV includes “Bleak House,” “The Brides in the Bath,” “The Truth,” “TLC,” History of Britain,” “Gormenghast,” “Hope and Glory,” “Inspector Morse,” “Pie in the Sky (Series 1-4),” “In the Red,” “Ted and Ralph,” “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Amnesty,” “Bird of Prey,” “Whoops Apocalypse,” “The World Cup - A Captain’s Tale,” “The Cleopatras,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Anything Legal Considered,” “Ffizz,” “The Marksman,” “A Kind of Living,” “A Wanted Man,” “Perfect Scoundrels,” “The Good Guys,” “El Cid” and “Mr Wakefield’s Crusade”. Films include Venus, The History Boys, Opa!, Garfield 2, Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy, Gandhi, Stage Beauty, Harry Potter I, II & III, Vatel, Sleepy Hollow, Guarding Tess, Superman II, Brittannia Hospital, Funny Bones, Blame It On The Bellboy, Naked Gun 2, King Ralph, Goldeneye, Withnail and I, Shanghai Surprise, A Private Function, Gorky Park, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Ragtime and Chariots of Fire. Radio includes The History Boys, A Christmas Carol, All’s Well That Ends Well, Meet Mr Mulliner, The Charterhouse of Parma, Gate of Baghdad and Moby Dick.

Colin Haigh (TV Director) Theatre work includes Playing With Fire, The History Boys, Life x 3, The Heiress, Battle Royal, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, La Grande Magia, What the Butler Saw, Animal Farm, The Oresteia, Danton’s Death, Inner Voices and Lorenzaccio for the National; The Philadephia Story at the Old Vic; Brand for the RSC; The Crucible at Sheffield Crucible; Romeo and Juliet and The Seagull for ETT; Time and The Conways and The Tempest for the Old Vic; Art; Hamlet, Macbeth, Rosmersholm and Bodies in Wimbledon; The Graduate at the Gielgud; Meat at Theatre Royal Plymouth; Vassa, Britannicus and Phèdre (all Albery), and The Jew of Malta for the Almeida; The Death of Cool at Hampstead; Macbeth at the Northcott; Serious Money at Wyndham’s; productions in Chester, Nottingham, Salisbury, Hamburg; and three seasons at Glasgow Citizens’.

Andrew Knott (Lockwood) appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and film of The History Boys. His work in theatre includes 25 Years of OTW at Oldham Coliseum, Ruling Passion for Dancehouse and Tale of Two Cities for Green Room. TV includes Life on Mars, Steve and Nazreen, The Bill, Casualty, Where The Heart Is, Heartbeat, Coronation Street, The Ward, How We Used To Live, Emmerdale and Cracker. Films include The Sick House, Black Beauty and The Secret Garden. Radio includes Fat Camp, Glorious John, Stockport - So Good They Named It Once and Pigeon Summer.

Pamela Merrick (Make-Up Lady) trained at what is now Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and spent five years in repertory theatre in Swansea, Derby, Fokestone, Richmond and with Century Theatre Company. She appeared in the original stage production of The History Boys. Other work in theatre includes Pillars of the Community, The House of Bernarda Alba, The Secret Rapture, and Buried Child at the National; All My Sons at Wyndham’s, The Last Of Mrs Cheyney at Cambridge Theatre, Night and Day at the Phoenix; An Inspector Calls at the Garrick; The Sensualist at the Arts; Joey and Gina's Wedding at the Café Royal; the title role in Phèdre; The Misanthrope; Women of Intellect; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; The Real World; Oginsky Polonaise; Albert Nobbs (on tour for Hull Truck); The Memory of Water and Real Thing, also both on tour. TV includes “Bleak House,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Casualty,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Mind to Kill,” “The Bench,” “Dinner Party,” “Casting Off,” “EastEnders” and “Justice”.

Clive Merrison (Headmaster) appeared in the stage, radio and film productions of The History Boys. His other theatre work includes The Madness of George III (also on tour in the US) and Fair Ladies At A Game Of Poem Cards for the National on the South Bank; Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, The Front Page, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (also Queen's Theatre), The Misanthrope and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore for the National at the Old Vic; Much Ado About Nothing, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mephisto, A Loud Boy's Life, Troilus and Cressida, Principia Scriptoriae and Bastard Angel for the RSC; Credible Witness for the Royal Court; The Cocktail Party at the Edinburgh Lyceum; Reader at The Traverse; The Browning Version at Greenwich Theatre; and The Possessed at the Almeida. TV includes The Discovery of Ancient Egypt, The Brief, The Two Lives of Anthony Trollope, Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, Believe Nothing, The Falklands Play, Julius Caesar, Lexx, Meat Extract, Leprechauns, Life Support, How Do You Want Me?, The Round Tower, Mortimer's Law, Stalin and Mary Shelley. Film includes Discovery of Heaven, Pandemonium, Saving Grace, Up At The Villa, Photographing The Fairies, The English Patient, Heavenly Creatures, An Awfully Big Adventure, True Blue, Firefox and Escape to Victory. Radio includes Sherlock Holmes in the BBC recordings of the complete canon. He won the Sony Best Actor Award in 1984 for Luther.

Stephen Campbell Moore (Irwin) appeared in the original stage production and the film of The History Boys. Other work in theatre includes Much Ado About Nothing and Antony and Cleopatra for the RSC; Death of a Salesman for Compass Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Albery; Richard II and Coriolanus for the Almeida at Gainsborough Studios; The Changeling at Salisbury Playhouse; Richard III and The Two Gentleman of Verona at the Pendley Shakespeare Festival; Toad of Toad Hall and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Dean’s Hall, Berkhamstead. TV includes “Hustle,” “Wallis and Edward,” “He Knew He was Right” and “Byron”. Film includes Amazing Grace, A Good Woman and Bright Young Things.

Jamie Parker (Scripps) trained at RADA. He appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and the film of The History Boys. His theatre work includes Singer at the Tricycle; Between the Crosses at Jermyn Street Theatre; Coffee House, Holes in the Skin and Gondoliers for Chichester Festival Theatre; and After the Dance for the Oxford Stage Company. TV includes “Wire in the Blood,” “As If” and “Foyle’s War”.

Russell Tovey (Rudge) appeared in the original stage production, the radio version and the film of The History Boys. His other work in theatre includes, most recently, the title role in Tintin at the Barbican; The Laramie Project at the Sound Theatre; His Dark Materials, His Girl Friday, Henry V and Howard Katz at the National; Plasticine at the Royal Court; and The Recruiting Officer at Chichester Festival Theatre. TV: “Messiah,” “Shane,” “Servants,” “William and Mary,” “Ultimate Force,” “Silent Witness,” “NCS,” “Anchor Me,” “Poirot,” “Holby City,” “Mrs Bradley Mysteries,” “Hope and Glory” and “The Bill”. Films include My Family and Other Animals and The Emperor’s New Clothes.

The National Theatre is central to the creative life of the UK. In its three theatres on the South Bank in London, it presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory at any one time. It aims constantly to re-energise the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike. It aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the culture. By touring, the National shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad. Recent work from the NT which has been seen in the US includes: Othello, Carousel, Arcadia, An Inspector Calls, Indiscretions, Racing Demon, Skylight, Stanley, An Enemy of the People, Amy's View, Closer, Not About Nightingales, Hamlet, Copenhagen, Noises Off, Oklahoma!, and Vincent in Brixton.

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