Given that the play is now over 40 years old, there are several stark differences to the education system today. Patrick Connellan’s, stage design is a simple, yet effective box stage design which feels every bit as musty as Frank’s old corduroy jacket.Įducation is arguably the most prevalent theme of the piece, but the role it plays is ambiguous. Under the direction of Max Roberts, the audience is transported into Frank’s book laden office. A failed poet and not a great teacher, Tompkinson has the flawed Frank down to a tee. It is a joy to watch Tompkinson play out Frank’s journey from staunch cynic to his overwhelming appreciation of Rita’s unique mind and untrained and intelligence. The pair play off each other wonderfully and their chemistry is believable and authentic. Johnson is complemented beautifully by stage and screen stalwart Stephen Tompkinson as the cynical Frank who would rather be in the pub than educating the fiery and energetic Rita.
Johnson’s accent does slip occasionally which can be distracting but it certainly doesn’t take away from an incredibly solid performance. Her desire to move up the social ladder is the core of the play but is fraught with complexities and questions which Johnson handles with an incredibly nuanced performance. Always in search of debate, her hunger to learn and thirst for knowledge is incredibly inspiring. Johnson is able to strike a wonderful balance between Rita hiding her insecurities behind her brash outgoing personality to her transformation into a self-assured and confident scholar. Thanks to Russell’s slick script her journey feels honest and well paced allowing the audience to see Rita’s transformation satisfactorily play out. She performs the character’s arc with a beautifully endearing believability. Jessica Johnson is incandescent and effervescent as the idealistic Rita who longs for more. Growing up in a matriarchal environment, the women within his plays are portrayed sensitively, with compassion and this care and attention translate beautifully into this revival. With Frank’s help, Rita is able to find meaning through the education she missed out on thanks to peer pressure and a family expectation that it didn’t matter.Īs a general rule, the themes in Russell’s plays tend to revolve around a number of issues that are easily traceable to his own early life.
#Educating rita full script free#
In an attempt to break free of the shackles of her roots she enrols at the Open University where she is assigned a lecturer in the form of a jaded, miserable and functioning alcoholic, Frank (Stephen Tompkinson). She dreams of broadening her horizons through her passion for literature. The working class, Liverpudlian Rita (Jessica Johnson) is stuck in a dead end job and a miserable marriage. Walters later reprised her role in the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning film opposite Michael Caine. Originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and played at the Warehouse Theatre, London in 1980, the play starred Julie Walters and Mark Kingston. Stephen Tompkinson as Frank and Jessica Johnson as Rita in Educating Rita Photo Credit: Robert DayĮducating Rita, one of Willy Russell’s best-known plays, draws on every emotion to produce a profoundly stirring, yet also comical two-hander.
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