Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...The History Boys is all about the boys and Bowling has found a vivacious, empathetic, yearning pack—many of whom are barely out of school themselves. Fans of the movie might recall that the original boys were aging by the time the cameras arrived. Bowling delivers authentic youth, with all its messiness, intelligence, optimism and hope. There are any number of discoveries for Chicago’s casting directors: Alex Weisman’s deeply moving Posner ; Michael Peters’ gruff, Yorkshire-like Rudge ; Joel Gross’ deeply shallow Dakin ; Will Allan’s savvy Scripps. This terrific show—a triumphant revision, Chicago-style—deserves to be a huge hit for TimeLine, with the history boys making a deserved transition to the boys of summer."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The play itself is a feast (Bennett serves up a rare mix of the brainy, the heartfelt, the brutally honest and the playful), and director Nick Bowling's altogether remarkable production, in many ways better than the excellent Broadway edition, thrives on the intimacy of TimeLine's space and the actors' bravura performances. The great wonder of this play is that it truly becomes a grand open classroom while never feeling the slightest bit didactic. It is electric with energy, wit and ideas, and with the ache of life already well-rooted in adolescents."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Bowling has assembled a stellar cast dominated by the "boys" of the title, an infinitely likable, absolutely convincing octet whose suburban contingent includes a couple of impressive newcomers from Naperville and Glendale Heights, along with several veterans hailing from Lake County. What's remarkable is how thoroughly these eight young actors inhabit - with equal parts swagger and sensitivity - the roles of precocious prep school students preparing for the exams that will determine whether they'll be admitted to Britain's elite Oxford and Cambridge universities, or relegated to their second-tier counterparts."
The Wall Street Journal - Highly Recommended
"...To say that TimeLine makes "The History Boys" work is to understate the case by a mile-wide margin. Nick Bowling's staging is actually more effective in certain key ways than the original National Theatre production, and to my mind more moving as well. While I still have a few lingering doubts about "The History Boys," I have none whatsoever about TimeLine's production, which is one of the smartest shows I've seen all season long."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Brian Sidney Bembridge’s inventive environmental set re-creates not only a schoolroom but the boys’ bedrooms, each decorated according to its inhabitant’s jumbled tastes and evolving personality. (Rudge’s wall is plastered with sports photos, Dakin’s got an Elvis Presley poster, Posner prefers Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, and so on.) Mike Tutaj’s multimedia design juxtaposes footage of war documentaries—illustrating the boys’ curriculum—with clips from a home movie they’ve made."
Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...Capping off the wrenching wonders of the production is its music. From the recordings of vintage Pet Shop Boys to Posner’s melancholy show tune solos, Andrew Hansen’s soundscape is a dizzying, evocative delight. In the best way – and in the words of one of the songs Posner delights in singing – The History Boys will leave you bewitched and bothered."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The play is much longer ( nearly three hours ) than it need be to tell its story as Bennett stops repeatedly for sketch-like pieces displaying the boys' ( and Bennett's ) precocity. Their singing and reciting is unnecessary material, but it's bloody wonderful and well-done. That's why Bennett is a star writer, and why The History Boys has been so highly anticipated. It doesn't disappoint."
Chicago Free Press - Highly Recommended
"...At nearly three hours, Alan Bennett’s deservedly-praised “history play” is as sprawling as a Shakespeare chronicle. Exposing how personal crises become public problems, “History Boys” fits us like an ankle monitor. An uncompromising examination of education as accommodation, this profuse but penetrating drama exposes the intramural politics of a U.K. prep school in the 1980s that’s bent on marketing its graduates to Oxbridge-elite universities. Eight dynamically different students both testify to and act out their seminal—and sexual—experiences with three cunningly contrasted teachers."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"...Presiding over the complex staging with unobtrusive but unerring insight is director Nick Bowling. He is handsomely assisted by Lindsey Pate’s costumes, Keith Parham’s lighting, Andrew Hansen’s sound and original music, and Mike Tutaj’s projection design. Special mention goes to Brian Sidney Bembridge’s set, which uses every inch of the TimeLine playing area and then some to create a multi-level school environment."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...This production, directed by Nick Bowling, is an absolute must-see for so many reasons. Laced with humor and honesty, the play examines such issues as education, ideals, beliefs and sexual identity. It outshines the Broadway version because of its intimate staging, its truthful, layered characterizations and attention to the most minute details. Study Irwin's body language as Dakin (skillfully played by Joel Gross) challenges his teacher's authority. Share Posner's (brilliant newcomer Alex Weisman) angst as he copes with a love he neither understands nor shares. Observe the individuality of the students' dorm rooms, uniforms and even the graffiti carved in their desks."
Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended
"...The TimeLine Theatre has delivered The History Boys in perfect condition. Scenic Designer Brian Sidney Bembridge’s wondrously showy box contains a fantastic gift for us: people to care about, rather than characters to watch."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Bowling’s Chicago premiere, a high-water mark for both him and TimeLine, exudes charm from every pore, mainly due to the randy, fresh-faced octet of young male actors. (Alex Weisman as a shuffling misfit and Joel Gross as the gorgeous, give-a-fuck object of his affection make blazing impressions.) Scenic artist Brian Bembridge, too, outdoes himself: A simple lacquered playing space spills into the gutted theater lobby, here converted into messy, postered dorm rooms."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The History Boys is a major triumph for Nick Bowling and Timeline Theatre. Their bold production is flawless, fluid and flowing. The polish of the acting is amazing. I felt that I was in school with the boys as I struggled with the ideas and arguments presented. This is grand theatre that bridges the gap between an engaging story with empathetic characters and a work of intellectual ideas and philosophical dilemmas. That combination yields an exciting and deeply moving night at the theatre."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...The ensemble is as good as it gets. From the gifted newcomers to the seasoned veterans, every role is delivered with exciting depth and beguiling charm. Alex Weisman's performance of Posner conveys complexity with exceptional vulnerability and sophistication. Donald Brearley becomes the part of the beloved, yet sadly lecherous, Hector as if the part was written for him specifically. Brearley renders one of those rare performances that is so real, it makes the notion of a script vanish. His creation is both a playwright and an audience's dream."
