Educating Rita Archives - North West End UK

16Jul

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

REVIEWS

Educating Rita – Frinton Summer Theatre

It’s a tale as old as love itself – older man falls for younger woman’s charms, but ‘Educating Rita’ is about so much more. Rita (Hannah Traylen) is a hairdresser, with what her working folk would call ‘ideas above her station’. She enrols on an open university course in English literature because she wants to expand her mind and see the world differently. Her tutor, Frank (Jonathan Clarkson), is a failed poet and disillusioned drunk. The scene is therefore set for the tensions to erupt and the hearts to unfold – which they do. Two-hander plays are notoriously difficult to pull off (and still keep the audience entertained), but the casting of this duo is stellar. Hannah is an absolute firecracker of a performer and Jonathan does a good job at dowdy, with occasional sparks of l...

Educating Rita – Rose Theatre, Kingston

Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is a story about a girl from Liverpool who enrols in an open university course with a nihilistic and hedonistic tutor. Rita (Jessica Johnson) who came from a restrictive learning background wants to learn critical thinking and to change herself and her life through learning. She tries to find common ground and a genuine connection with her tutor as she emulates his identity of a Scholar and intellectual. She tries to find purpose, an appreciation for life and to change her culture, lifestyle and identity to something greater. Rita moves her apartment, changes her company to university students, changes her job and identity to lead a more enriching and authentic life. While encouraging her tutor (Stephen Tompkinson) to find a love for life through pursuing his...

Lockdown Interview – Willy Russell

On 11th May as part of Bloomsbury Academic and Stage-ed, I had the pleasure of being involved in a Q&A session with writer, composer, and lyricist Willy Russell, best known for Blood Brothers, Educating Rita, and Our Day Out, to name but a few of his celebrated works. I have a confession to make: on a personal level, Russell had a huge influence on me both as a writer and actor. Our Day Out was the first musical I was cast in and Blood Brothers was the first musical I watched. So, to be part of this was something really special for me. Russell spoke openly and honestly as to how Blood Brothers came about and how he wrote and composed the songs for the show, and in a session that was scheduled to last one hour, ever the gentleman, he gave us ninety minutes. With the soundtrack for...