In the play, Irwin is shown in flash-forward scenes as a popular wheelchair-bound TV history presenter in the 90s (receiving a pathetic attempted blackmail about his schoolboy-fancying by a desperate, bedsit-bound, Internet-dwelling older Posner). Irwin also becomes a sinister Government advisor a la A. Campbell in the near future. Alan Bennett is clearly saying something about his teaching techniques - all soundbites and attention-grabbing spin - appearing in other aspects of modern society. Although this keeps you waiting to find out how he ended up in a wheelchair (the traffic accident at the end), I did think that AB was trying to say too much at once. This was all cut out partly to keep the film shorter, but also to focus more on the boys. Stephen C Moore's more filmic style of acting (all in the eyes!) coupled with the omission of these flash-forward scenes made the film a lot kinder to Irwin - he's less the villain of the piece. Posner, without his flash-forward scene as the blackmailer, also gets a kinder ending in the film. According to the DVD audio commentary, Hector's end felt more than enough in the film (where everything is brought into a harsher light), so all the more reason to give Irwin and Posner happier endings.
The play is a lot more moving, not least the Bye Bye Blackbird song and all the other musical bits, because the young actors are really there singing in front of you (and the Scripps actor is a brilliant pianist).
So I'm a fan of both, as both formats have their own pros and cons. Read the play!
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In the play, Irwin is shown in flash-forward scenes as a popular wheelchair-bound TV history presenter in the 90s (receiving a pathetic attempted blackmail about his schoolboy-fancying by a desperate, bedsit-bound, Internet-dwelling older Posner). Irwin also becomes a sinister Government advisor a la A. Campbell in the near future. Alan Bennett is clearly saying something about his teaching techniques - all soundbites and attention-grabbing spin - appearing in other aspects of modern society. Although this keeps you waiting to find out how he ended up in a wheelchair (the traffic accident at the end), I did think that AB was trying to say too much at once. This was all cut out partly to keep the film shorter, but also to focus more on the boys. Stephen C Moore's more filmic style of acting (all in the eyes!) coupled with the omission of these flash-forward scenes made the film a lot kinder to Irwin - he's less the villain of the piece. Posner, without his flash-forward scene as the blackmailer, also gets a kinder ending in the film. According to the DVD audio commentary, Hector's end felt more than enough in the film (where everything is brought into a harsher light), so all the more reason to give Irwin and Posner happier endings.
The play is a lot more moving, not least the Bye Bye Blackbird song and all the other musical bits, because the young actors are really there singing in front of you (and the Scripps actor is a brilliant pianist).
So I'm a fan of both, as both formats have their own pros and cons. Read the play!