Many years ago, I remember watching the film “Educating Rita” with Michael Caine and Julie Walters. It was a big box office hit of a play that transitioned to the silver screen in 1983. As I was still quite young then, I didn’t see it on TV until later. I definitely remember watching it at my uncle’s house in the 90s on VHS. The film being based on the 1980 comedy/drama play by Willy Russell, who also wrote the screenplay.
We bought tickets to see the play performed at Rugby Theatre. Suzanne Swan starred as Rita, and Malcolm Stewart played Frank.
Since the theatre was within walking distance of our home, we arrived early to visit the bar and box office, where we purchased tickets for a future production.
The play, which ran for two hours excluding the interval, focussed on Liverpudlian hairdresser Rita, who dreams of studying English literature and poetry to improve herself. The play chronicles her journey and friendship through dialogue with her tutor Frank, who struggles with alcoholism. As it had been a while since I last watched the film, I could only recall the basic storyline, making the play feel fresh and new to me.
This amateur theatre production was of a very high standard and impressive. The two actors were faultless and deserve commendations for performing a two-person show for two hours a night. Their comic timing was spot-on, and they managed to gain many laughs from the audience. Both actors were believable in their roles, and they received a standing ovation at the end. It cannot be an easy production to perform with so much dialogue for the two leads.
The set was amazing, creating Frank’s study on stage. The lighting, sound effects, and music were also excellent, with a great 80’s soundtrack. Rita also has a fair share of costumes to help the progression of time and her growth as an intellect.
The production was high quality, and the staff were all very pleasant. We probably don’t use this theatre as much as we should, but we’ll start to take more notice of productions in the future. The future tickets we bought were for “Something about Jamie”.
As this production has already been running for a week, we managed to catch the penultimate performance on a Friday. By the time I post this review, the show will nearly be over and finished before you read this. However, the theatre has a good reputation for amateur theatre, so if you live in the area, it’s worth keeping an eye out for other productions that might interest you.
Have you seen this play at Rugby Theatre and what did you think? I will certainly be looking at watching the film again very soon.
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