Directed by Paul Miller, Alan Bennett's award-winning drama will play the Ahmanson through Dec. 9. Peter Paige, who played Emmett on the long-running Showtime series "Queer as Folk," portrays Irwin in a cast that also includes John Apicella (TV Director), Adam Armstrong (Lockwood), Ryder Bach (Boy), Alex Brightman (Posner), Charlotte Cornwell (Mrs. Lintott), H. Richard Greene (Headmaster), Cord Jackman (Rudge), Sean Marquette (Timms), Dakin Matthews (Hector), Andrew McClain (Boy), Seth Numrich (Dakin), Ammar Ramzi (Akthar), Demond Robertson (Crowther), Brett Ryback (Scripps), Edward Tournier (Boy) and Elizabeth West (Make-up Lady).

The design team includes Bob Crowley (production design), Mark Henderson (lighting design) and Colin Pink (sound design). James T. McDermott is the production stage manager.

Set in the 1980s in the north of England, The History Boys, according to press notes, "charts the fortunes of an unruly bunch of bright sixth-form boys in pursuit of a place at Oxford or Cambridge under the guidance of a maverick English teacher and a shrewd supply teacher."

The original production of The History Boys at the National Theatre won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best New Play. The production eventually moved to Broadway, where it opened April 23, 2006, and won six Tony Awards including Best Director for Hytner and Best Play for Bennett.

The Ahmanson Theatre is located at the Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Avenue, in downtown L.A. For tickets call (213) 628-2772 or visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. *

Due to ongoing renovation of the Mark Taper Forum, The History Boys will be seen at the Ahmanson.