Openly-gay playwright Alan Bennett's six-time Tony Award-winning play The History Boys is now on stage in Christchurch's Court Theatre until 21 June. The play was a hit in Broadway and London's West End before it was filmed in 2006. Its plot deals with teaching methods in an all-boy grammar school, and the homosexuality of a teacher and a student. "Ostensibly about a group of rowdy young students studying for their Oxbridge exams in 1982 Sheffield, the touching and witty script explores the purpose of education as two radically different teachers vie to shape their pupils' hearts and minds, while the boys themselves struggle with adolescence," says Court Theatre director Elric Hooper. Special workshops were held during the rehearsal process in order for the eight actors playing the students to create a feeling of unity, familiarity and camaraderie essential to the relationships on stage, explains Hooper. "This was an education for the actors as much as bonding exercises: learning the numerous poems referenced in the text, listening to the music of the time and watching the old movies Hector has the students learn in class; the cast immersed themselves in the world of the play." To book for the production, visit the Court Theatre's website on the link below. A scene from the movie version of The History Boys appears below.