I was one of twenty-seven people in the UK who had still not seen THE HISTORY BOYS...until last night. It's so enjoyable to watch a good new play (does it still count as a new play?!) - and the performances, although a little tired, were still very good. Something strange has happened to me - I've watched both halves of three shows in the West End within a fortnight! Last week it was THE VORTEX - what a tremendous play (another one I hadn't seen or read before) - and another good production. And then INTO THE HOODS.

HISTORY BOYS obviously concerns itself with education. My father always told me it doesn't matter what you learn, the purpose of going to school is to learn how to learn. And I surely agree. Do I remember any of the history, maths or physics I learnt from my favourite teachers? None at all - but they instilled in me a process, a love of learning, an approach to work. Alan Bennett couldn't have dramatised it better.