In a pretty corner of Ifield village, and a stone’s throw from the grave of Mark Lemon – founder of Victorian satirical magazine Punch – is the Barn Theatre, which provided a rustic setting for the Aerial Company Theatre’s production of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.

It’s the brilliance of the script that ensures pathos is never sacrificed for comedy’s sake; the weighty themes of adolescent sexuality, the love and pursuit of knowledge, pederasty and the angst of adulthood were easily handled by the über-talented Aerial Company cast and crew, who saw to it that its execution felt anything but laboured.

Jarrod Hopson as the narrator, Scripps, provided airs of mischief and high-camp with his deftly expressive features, David Burton oozed Richard Griffiths appeal as Hector, Jojo Macari cut a sensitive Posner, struggling with his growing affections for the posturing, laddish Dakin, played by Anthony Foruria, and Alex Brown brought plenty of convincingly slick rhetoric to the role of Irwin.

A new-wave 1980s soundtrack, monochrome projections of geometric illustrations (by director Ben Simpson) and a frenetic lighting scheme interpreted the moods of individual scenes with aplomb – a great show that Bennett himself would have surely applauded.