Bennett on history

PETRONA writes about Alan Bennett on "History":

Alan Bennett on "History" and more

Via National Theatre email, I read a characteristic article (in the Daily Telegraph) by Alan Bennett. The article is a version of a speech he gave, so it is a series of observations rather than a seamlessly connected argument. It is therefore hard to summarise it in a pithy sentence or two, but it contains plenty of wryly amusing Bennetisms on the topic of why he doesn't accept invitations to school speech days, teaching styles (as epitomised in The History Boys), the writing process (characters are the most important thing), achievement, potential and a comparison of state and public education systems. This being Bennett, there are also some good anecdotes, particularly at the end. Here's a quote from the piece:

"It's nice to think there is some pattern in what one writes but I'm not always sure there is. You write one thing and then you write another with no more purpose than a hen scratching about in a yard. Still I can see there is a tenuous connection between History Boys and The Uncommon Reader if only because Hector believes books are companions, which is what a woman rather late in life discovers for herself and which liberates her in a transformation of which Hector would surely have approved."

The talk on which this article is based, given at the Wyndham's Theatre where The History Boys is still running, is available here; and you can watch a video of the cast at the National Theatre website.