Educating Rita -

Willy Russell

Methuen Drama

2009

82 páginas

2h 44m

ISBN-10: 3425040995

University lecturer Frank needs to earn some extra money, so he agrees to tutor an Open University student. His student Rita is a brash, earthy hairdresser with a recently discovered passion for higher education, much to the dismay of her husband Denny. In her attempts to appreciate literature, Rita challenges the attitudes of a traditional university, teaching Frank to question his own understanding of his work and himself. The play explores the relationship between student and tutor.

The play was inspired by Willy's experiences at evening classes. Much of the comedy arises from Rita's fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics of English literature, but she is never patronised by the Willy, who recognises from his own experience that education is a means of escape from one's own circumstances. (http://www.willyrussell.com/rita1.html)