The History Boys, at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, review His teaching rewards those that stand out. This is Margaret Thatcher's Britain, and traditional educational values are being dismantled. Chloe Lamford's set is dominated by a scrapheap of schooldesks and lockers. That's symptomatic of a production that does too much. We don't need to see Nicholas Day's bureaucratic headmaster in his glass box office to know he's out of touch. There are testosterone-charged dance sequences and pupils milling around in the background - distractingly - to demonstrate school-life beyond the scenes. Longhurst attempts to explode the play, but manages primarily to make it cumbersome and scuff its best lines with scene changes. Curiously, it's Irwin, rather than Hector, who seems central here. Partly that's because Kelly plays the latter as an increasingly listless figure. Teaching is his job, not his life's love, and each day's highlight is his bike ride home - not least because it involves a surreptitious fondle. But Longhurst often places Irwin centre stage, as if impressed by his intellectual razzle-dazzle despite the play. Thomas, making his professional debut, is a nice mix of slimey self-satisfaction and preppy insecurity. Of the boys, Oliver Coopersmith's Posner - more asocially serious than the usual sensitive soul - and Will Featherstone's amiable Scripps stand out. Tom Rhys Harries and his David Van Day haircut catch the preening vanity of school-star Dakin. Ultimately the play's sheer quality wins out, but directorial meddling doesn't help. One suspects this is a production Irwin might love. Bennett less so. To June 8; www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk