British accents and high testosterone levels fused the Ahmanson stage Wednesday evening with a profound energy as eight school boys taught a fast-paced L.A. crowd to “take it, feel it, and pass it on.” In Alan Bennett’s Tony Award winning play, “The History Boys,” the serious situations that run the gamut of borderline teacher-student relationships and passing elite university entrance exams are not ones to ease the minds of a conventional crowd, but two and a half hours later, an open-minded audience is still craving more.

As its title implies, the play revolves around the subject of History and how it should be taught. “History Boys” takes place in a Northern England grammar school in the mid-1980’s where Hector (Dakin Matthews), a large and eccentric man in his 60s, believes in teaching the art of poetry, music, and literature, while Irwin (Peter Paige), the young incoming teacher, believes the students should incorporate mainly cold, hard facts unto their entrance exam essays. While this opposition of sensibilities energizes the piece, it also rings a bell for the educational issues that the contemporary audience faces today.

Beyond these perceptible issues, Bennett presents underlying controversial subjects in an open, conversational way—particularly the inevitable homosexual underpinnings of an all boys prep school environment. Whether Dakin is freely discussing his sexual preference for both the female school secretary and the intelligent, thought-provoking Irwin, or the headmaster is nonchalantly outing Hector for his inappropriate motorcycle rides with the younger boys, the audience can only accept what has happened and move on to discover more of what “History Boys” has to offer.

Hector, as the students have titled him, rides a motor-bike and has an affinity towards compound adjectives. Stage, television, and film acting veteran Dakin Matthew supplies the complex character with a hefty accent that takes some warming up to. Nevertheless, Matthews’ portrayal of Hector’s shocking emotional vulnerability through dry internal monologues make him a convincingly talented actor.

Matthews is not the singular shining star within the adult portion of the cast. As the only woman amidst pure testosterone, Charlotte Cornwell displays strong-willed feminism in the character of Mrs. Lintott, the female historian whose definition of history is “the incapabilities of men.”

Easing the audience between the poignant scenes are video sequences with a perfectly fitting loud and upbeat ‘80s soundtrack. While they seemingly dismiss the emotional depth of the preceding action, the videos in actuality allow for the audience to step back and truly take in the rich, developing plot.

It is when class is in session that the production comes to life with musical numbers accompanied by the God-worshipping Scripps (Brett Ryback) on piano and the reenactment of several vintage movie scenes by Crowther (Demond Robertson) and Dakin-swooning Posner (Alex Brightman) with cigarettes in hand. In addition, British educational terms mixed with slang and intermingled with quotations from Hardy and Shakespeare transform the classroom set into an exciting world. Not only does this allow the cast to demonstrate their immense talent, but the audience is given the opportunity to enter the minds of eight fascinating young boys.

Ranging in age from 18 to 26, they are witty, experimental, young and yet old for their ages, and always ready to talk about sex, or as Dakin would put it—“Negotiating over the pace of the occupation.” Nevertheless, as distantly British, male, and Oxford-seeking as they are, they are still relatable. Who knew that eight adolescent boys could teach us to remember that life-changing period of our ever-present school days?

Danielle Jacoby