In this entertaining
tale of class difference and self-discovery, two polar opposites develop
a friendship as a result of their common love for literature and learning.
Shelley Atkinson plays Rita, a zesty young hairdresser from Liverpool
who signs up for an Open University course so that she can understand
art and culture. Her counter-point is lecturer Frank, a disillusioned
academic who has only agreed to teach Open University because it pays
for his drinking habit.
This could be another version of Pygmalion updated for Thatcherite
England. However, the strength of Willy Russell's tale lies in the interaction
between Rita and Frank, which is held aloft by a script that is full
of wit and humanity. The gulf between the two characters is apparent
from the opening scene, where a tipsy Frank is politely humouring his
wife on the phone while he hunts for his hidden whiskey bottles between
volumes of Eliot and Dickens. A fairly typical evening for a middle-aged
career academic, one might think. Enter a loudly-dressed Rita, who drops
things and is generally inappropriate, such as by commenting that an
antique religious painting must have substituted for the lack of pornography
in its time. The two develop an unlikely friendship, bonding over literature
and finding comfort in their companionship.
Although Atkinson's brash Rita leans a little too far towards caricature
at first, with her exaggerated earthiness and in-your-face ways. However,
her disingenuousness pairs nicely with Frank's (Terench Frisch) supercilious
cynicism, which comes close to complacency and decadence. Hence, while
Rita's aesthetic sensibilities are on the ascent, Frank seems to have
reached the high point of refinement and is tipping the other way, towards
disdain and detachment. Some warm moments emerge as a result of Rita
igniting some old spot of feeling in Frank, such as their bonding over
Howards End, and Rita's unmediated passion for Shakespeare's
Macbeth. But this happy period is short-lived.
As Rita makes new friends and discovers a hip, artsy-fartsy lifestyle,
we start to wonder if she enjoys the boho-intellectual social scene
more than the genuine pleasures of art and culture. Frank, whose decline
into self-loathing becomes more apparent from his abuse of alcohol,
feels that Rita has lost her personality and now marches to the drumbeat
of the latest literary fad. Rita, on the other hand, feels she has outgrown
Frank's teachings and now enjoys the freedom of forming her own opinions
through discussions with her newfound community. As Frank's growing
sense of inadequacy and loneliness grows, the more wretched he becomes,
and we wonder if his estimation of Rita is less than objective.
The measured portrayal of these crucial transformations is entertaining
and thought-provoking. There is enough substance in both the characters
to set the audience thinking about Russell's deliberate ambiguities
in the plot. Director Peter Joucla deliberately plays down some of these
ambiguities, with effective subtlety, such as the suggestion of an affair
between the two. In one scene, a harmless flirtation over whiskey in
Frank's office insinuates that there may be more than meets the eye,
especially with Rita's marital problems looming in the background. In
another scene where Rita worries about the impact of Frank's drinking
on his work, Frank's too-loud proclamation that his dismissal would
have to be caused by worse offences, like the rape of a student, hangs
in the air a beat too long.
Frisch's understated and careful portrayal of Frank turns him, the boring
and unattractive one, into a far more interesting character than the
dynamic Rita. Frank is finally asked to take a sabbatical in Australia,
and he is packing up his things when Rita turns up after a long absence
to say goodbye. Although the material collapse of Frank is tragic, especially
in contrast to Rita who is vividly coming into her own, the lingering
dregs of kinship between the two redeem the death of their friendship.
As separation becomes their destiny, it seems to be all for the better,
with a fifty-fifty chance that things would work out for Frank and Rita
individually.
Educating Rita, on first glance, appears to be firmly located
in Thatcherite-era England, given its various references to the pub,
hairdresser shops and Liverpudlian working class culture (or the lack
of it). However, the theme of social class ultimately comes second to
the universal themes of education and art, mediated through the rich
emotions of an unusual friendship. Guided by Joucla's deft direction,
Frisch and Atkinson share a chemistry that lights up the stage, while
maintaining enough separateness in their individual characters to illuminate
the complexity of human connection. |
"Guided by Joucla's deft direction, Frisch and Atkinson share a
chemistry that lights up the stage, while maintaining enough separateness
in their individual characters to illuminate the complexity of human
connection"
Credits
Cast: Shelley Atkinson and Terence Frisch
Lighting: Filippo De Capitani
Stage Managment:Madeleine Bowyer
Sound: David Caron
Set: Rupert Turner
Art Promotion: Angelika Martin
Grantly Marshall and Gunnar Kuchn – Producers
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