Educating Rita at Theatre Royal

 

The Student becomes the Master

This most recent tour of Willy Russell’s timeless classic, Educating Rita, comes to a final close this week at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal, a fitting location for local lead Jessica Johnson’s graduation.

Since April 2017 when Jess played Rita at the Gala, Durham, she has taken the role of Rita to be very much her own.  Of course, the immortal genius of Russell’s writing creates a landscape in which actors have freedom to develop, but having seen this incarnation a number of times over the past 4 years, it is Johnsons’s own development that is just as impressive as the journey the titular Rita takes.  Always confident in the role, there was added depth and strength to last night’s performance borne from the brilliant on-stage chemistry and Jess’s commitment to her craft.

The story is well known and much loved; Rita wants to change her mundane life, breakaway from the cultural expectations of her family, peers, husband and feed her desire to learn and grow.  She embarks on an English Literature OU course and, paired with disillusioned (and often drunk) professor Frank (the incomparable Stephen Tompkinson), she discovers the classics, Shakespeare, poetry and critical thinking.  As much as Rita grows, Frank shrinks into his bottles of well hidden scotch, ruing his own lost passions and resenting the freedom and possibilities Rita now uncovers.  His descent into self-pity is akin to Victor Frankenstein’s love and then hatred for his monster – it is not the monster’s fault it became what the Dr created, nor is it Rita’s fault Frank gave her the freedom to think for herself, which he then struggles to accept.

As is to be expected with a Russell masterpiece, the wit and comedic observations are packed into this 2 hander, juxtaposed against the still current social constraints of ‘change is bad’ and ‘know your place’.  The great set (Franks study, filled with dusty books, student papers and the afore mentioned bottles of booze) is both claustrophobic to Frank and enlightening to Rita; what are his prison walls are her gates to freedom, and even his impending trip to Australia (due to an unfortunate, drunken incident with the Bursar) does little to break him from his captive mindset. 

It may be a long time before we again get to see such wonderful on-stage unity from 2 actors totally immersed in their art.  Don’t miss out on this final leg of the tour. 

Thank you Jessica and Stephen for a wonderful journey and who knows, perhaps Mr Russell could be tempted to write a follow up - Rita the Teacher anyone?

Educating Rita 2019

A magnetic performance, as fresh, witty and relevant today as it was 35 years ago.

Educating Rita, written by Willy Russell, is the tale of a working class hairdresser and her desire to break free from her everyday existence by taking an Open University course in English Literature.  Her tutor, Frank, is a long in the tooth, cantankerous alcoholic lecturer whose disdain for the modern approach to learning is only bettered by his hatred for an empty bottle of scotch.   Indeed, Frank only agrees to take on an Open University student in order to pay for his bottles of booze and yet, very quickly he sees in Rita a freshness, an unsullied mind and an unpretentiousness that challenges his jaded and tainted outlook on life.

As a play, this two hander is solely performed from the confines of Frank’s study, designed by Patrick Connellan – set with bookcases, piles and piles of volumes and copious bottles of ‘hidden’ scotch – where the simplest of props, the study door, the waste paper bin, the flower vases are all cleverly used to create a richness to the interaction between student and teacher. Brilliantly directed by Max Roberts, you aren’t so much drawn into this world as sucked headlong and enveloped so deep I could swear you could taste the dust and smell the must.

Playing Frank, Stephen Tompkinson, gives a masterful appreciation of the abject resolution that at some point in life “is this it?” seems to be the most oft used phrase, even if it is in self-denigration.  Challenged by Rita’s unbridled hunger to learn, he portrays both tutor and father figure with equal amounts of paternal care and longing to be young again.  Indeed, Tompkinson brings a lot more of a father figure to the role than merely a university lecturer.  The journey he takes us on is akin to a parent watching their offspring move from wide eyed 13 year old starting out on secondary education (and asking questions on everything) to the know-it-all 18 year old who sees their parent as merely a hindrance.  His frustrations towards the end (and the increased drinking that accompanied them) are not borne from Rita’s changing attitudes so much as Franks inability to accept his work was done.

Rita (or Susan as is her real name) is played by Jessica Johnson, local born, who gives a maestro performance.  Her machine gun delivery and the typical convoluted journeys that people love to take when trying to recount a simple event feel comforting familiar.  Her outwardly brash attitude which belies a delicate and vulnerable core is perfect and her journey through self awareness and realisation is magnetic.  In particular, her frustration with the constraints brought about by assumed societal positions is palpable and very relevant to today’s approach to class and culture. 

Fans of the film will not be disappointed by this latest stage production and the standing ovation from the packed first house was testament to the brilliance of the cast, a 5 star performance.