"The History Boys" by Encore Performing Arts.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

The play is one I have seen on several occasions and is one of those stories that you just don’t tire off. This is due to the wonderfully rich writing of Alan Bennett and a story that never really ages, even though it’s set in the 1980’s. It’s issues are relative in any decade you set it, including today, so you can never tire of excellently observed pieces of literature, something that writers such as Bennett excel at.

The writing is well balanced with as much humour as there is pathos and inner pain. It takes you through the end of school pressures for those final exams as they try to get their places at Oxford and Cambridge and meanders through the personal lives and situations of the boys involved.

But it’s not just the boys’ lives we have insights to, as the teachers are just as important and as fascinating with the battle for teaching supremacy and skills between Hector and Irwin.

Arden-Caspar Jennison plays Posner. At one point in the play, Posner describes himself this way: “I’m a Jew. I’m small. I’m a homosexual. And I live in Sheffield. I’m f***ed.” Posner’s journey towards discovering his sexuality figures largely in the play. He feels attracted to Dakin, and doesn’t know what to make of those feelings.

Arden also provides the bulk of the singing, accompanied by Rob McAuley. Posner is the youngest of the characters and Arden, through the vulnerability of his acting, makes you aware of this. There is a scene in Act Two where he gets a hug from Dakin where you feel like punching the air, and that small step for Posner is highlighted well by Arden.

Robert Stott-Marshall is Dakin. Dakin is intelligent, charming, manipulative, self-confident, and handsome. This makes him popular at school, and at least three of the male characters in the play are sexually attracted to him. I last saw Robert as Orin, the dentist in "Little Shop Of Horrors", and in some ways there are similarities between both roles; both require him to be good looking and charismatic, obviously that part was not hard. The other part is that both characters attract other characters from the play who, as the character can reel in and then dispose of, plus the character is so strong that he knows that he has the draw to be able to be in control of the situations that he creates. It takes a strong and confident actor to bring out the traits in the characters they play. Robert is a strong, confident character actor, as shown as Dakin.

Robert McAuley plays Scripps. Scripps is Dakin’s closest friend, a pianist, and an aspiring writer. He is a devout and practicing Christian, and he says that his parents don’t understand this choice. Scripps delivers a large chunk of the play’s narrative asides to the audience. It's nice to see an actor actually playing the piano onstage as so many times I've seen the piano with it's back to the audience and it's quite clear that the actor is not playing the piano. Robert has these musical skills, as well as to create some of the music he performs on stage. Both are highlighted here.

Shantanu Bhumbra plays Akthar, a Muslim student, a fact that is referred to several times throughout the play. I've seen Shan play several roles, and no one can say that he is pigeon-holed. This role is very different to playing Reverand Moore in "Footloose" or Fagin in "Oliver". There is a deepness that now and again emerges in Akhtar, brought to recognition by Shan. An excellent piece of casting. I can promise that you'll be seeing much more of Shan next year.

Harvey Latter plays Lockwood, a thoughtful student who also participates in the class’s irreverent joking. If anyone from this cast looks like a school pupil, Harvey does. It is totally believable that every one of this cast could be of grammar school age but Harvey seems to morph into the character of Lockwood. Harvey has a certain talent to do this; I've seen him in several roles over the years and he has fitted the image of every one of them. He is chameleonic.

Rhodri Denton plays Crowther, an aspiring actor and theatre fan, and one of the quieter boys in this play. Rhodri makes his debut for Encore as Crowther, but it's as if he has known the cast, in and out of character, forever; the chemistry is all there. And that is one thing about this cast, chemistry shines through the relationships of the class.

Matt McAuley plays Timms. Timms is a funny and confident student, the class clown, often contributing to the class’s lively banter. When I spoke with him last week, he mentioned that there were nerves with this play, simply for the fact that this is his first play, as opposed to a musical; the normal vehicle for Matt's talents. He had no need to worry because this play shows that he is equally adept at character straight acting as he is within musical theatre.

James Wallace plays Rudge, a talented athlete from a working-class background. The teachers all underestimate him, and don’t believe that he has much chance of being accepted to Oxford. It's Rudge's definition of history that provides one of the play's most well known quotes. James also makes his Encore debut as Rudge. This character is not the most prominent, but it's the back story about his education woven through that makes his achievements later on such a great story as he gets to stick two fingers up to the school establishment.

George Lamb plays Irwin, a young, recent university graduate who comes to teach history at the school and help prepare the boys for their university entrance exams. Irwin’s philosophy of education is about looking at questions from an unconventional angle in order to appear more interesting to examiners. It stands in stark contrast it with Hector’s academic style. Irwin opens the play very differently to how we see him on his first day at school as the story flashes back to recall what happened to bring him to how we see him at the opening. It's not that often we see George not playing it fully for laughs, so it's nice to see that more serious side to his acting skills.

Terry Stephenson plays Hector, the central character in the play. A beloved teacher who believes that his students should learn literature by heart in order to help them weather life’s difficulties. His teaching style is irreverent and energetic. He often has the boys act out scenes or sing songs, and he seems unhampered by the usual school rules. You could very easily get hypnotised by Terry as he knows just how to spin a story and build a character. There is a slight naivety to Hector, or maybe just a devil may care and doesn't care who knows what he is doing attitude. Whichever way you want to opt for, Terry's portrayal of this incredibly enigmatic and addictive teacher, certainly brightens up his class. A class performance indeed.

Adam Worton plays the Headmaster of the fictional St Christopher's Grammar School in Sheffield where the action of the play takes place. His real name is Felix Armstrong. He is very concerned with sending the boys to Oxford and Cambridge in order to raise the school’s profile. He dislikes Hector’s scattered teaching style, and hires Irwin to make the boys more competitive university applicants.

Adam is another actor making his debut for Encore, although I have seen him before back in 2014 in the Lace Market Theatre's production of "The Pillow Man". You get a real feeling of bubbling under with this character, and when he explodes after relating the story told to him by his wife at the charity shop, you really feel that pent up anger and frustration he has with Hector, and his damage limitation actions. All this brought to life by Adam Worton.

Lizzie Norris plays Mrs "Totty" Lintott. Mrs. Lintott, whose first name is Dorothy, is a lower-form history teacher at the grammar school, and the only female character in the play. Lizzie brings out the supportive side of the character, as well as some stories that you wouldn't expect from a lady teacher of her standing. Oh! and that potty mouth outburst really takes you by surprise. What also took me by surprise is, even though I've seen Lizzie perform many times on stage, this is also her debut for Encore.

It really is testament to Encore, and the people behind Encore Performing Arts, that so many excellent actors want to get their name on the roll call of honour for them. And this is most certainly a top class cast.

Maybe it's their award winning reputation for producing incredible theatre - take for example "Frankenstein" - or whether it's the choice of plays. Alan Bennett is certainly a great choice and "History Boys" is such an enjoyable story, all the ingredients are there for both actors and audience.

Most people will know the song "Bye Bye Blackbird", but since I heard it used, and arranged for "The History Boys", every time I hear it, this play comes to mind straight away. Performed almost acapella, with just a few notes from the piano, it's haunting to say the least.

What I was also very impressed with were the Sheffield accents from all the lads. There's just enough of a difference to separate the Nottingham brogue from the Sheffield sound, and that accent was constant all the way through.

I was really excited when I heard that this play was to be directed by Christopher Mundy because I knew that I was in for a treat, having seen several of Chris's performances over the past as an actor. This is his debut as a Director for adults; his Youth work has stood him in very good stead to manage and extract everything from this cast that Bennett would have wanted to see on stage. Assisting Chris in this role has been Eleanor Carty; this also being her first play to direct.

You also have an inkling of the success of a show just by looking down the names involved. I have not seen a bad, or unsuccessful piece of theatre that has Adam Guest's name attached to it. Whether he is on stage acting or, as with this one, producing the play, he provides that Midas touch. A touch that shone bright again with this production.

The set was designed by Terry Stevenson, and let's face it, if anyone would know about a school room layout, Terry would. Excellent set with very manageable props, easily manoeuvred by the cast. Just one dodgy peg that did not want to hold that crash helmet. I've heard some of these pegs can be divas!!

Lighting Design and operation is by another well known name in the area of theatre, David Price. The spotlight on Scripps really brought the focus needed for the narration to be hit home.

Sound Design is by Christopher Mundy but operated by Adam Guest. Every cue was hit and I loved the music snatches played while the scenes were being changed, especially clever was the use of Queen's "Bicycle Race" plus the hilarious use of George Michael's "Faith" and the choreography of this song performed by the cast.

Great costumes - TGR Embroidery - and great props - Katie Bird. Watch out for the equally clever use of props to create Hector's bike.

"The History Boys" will be detained at The Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 23 September, so make sure that you turn up for this class act and anyone who fails to buy a ticket will need to bring a letter from their parents to explain their absenteeism!!