Educating Rita - Willy Russell

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51 of 51 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Chuckie8766

Bleedin Forster He Dunt Alf Get On My Tits 07/02/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages Great funny dramatic piece, only has two main characters, shows life as it really is for some people
Disadvantages Hard to understand the Liverpudlian accent in some places, is more suited to older readers

Skillfully written by the famous Liverpudlian playwright, Willy Russell, Educating Rita is a "must read" play for every drama student. (It is a modern fictitious play recommended for fourteen to eighteen year olds of all reading abilities). (Some of Willy Russell’s other works include Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers, Our Day Out and Stags And Hens.) ---INTRODUCTION--- Educating Rita was first written and performed in the 1980s. The play is actually set in the year that it was written, 1985. It made it's debut in the world of theatre - and soon afterwards, due to it's huge success, it was ... more
7 of 10 Ciao users found the following review helpful

katiefletcher

Not a classic by any account 18/10/2000

User doesn't recommend the product

Advantages Got me good grades
Disadvantages Bored me to death (practically)

How can a book like Educating Rita end up on my GCSE syllabus? Not only have we watched the dreadful film, with the attrocious music and acting, but we also had to pick our way through the book. I must say that this play alone is making my life so dull it's unbelievable. The story tells of a young woman born into a working class environment. She feels that simply completing one course at the open university will move her up to middle class. It's ludicrous. There isn't much else happening in the story and there are only two characters all together. On the plus side, I got an A* for my speaking ... more
25 of 25 Ciao users found the following review helpful

danzo

a great read!! 26/03/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages great play, a good read
Disadvantages had to do it for my coursework so i have read it too many times.

Willy Russell wrote this play. He wrote Educating Rita in 1979. The play is set in a book-lined study within a university in Northern England. This university runs an open university. In this play Willy Russell has created a unity of place, which means there is only one stage set in the entire play, which is Frank’s study. This makes the play easier to understand because you learn a lot more about each character and their personalities. There are only two characters that actually converse in this play but we hear about others, like Julia who is Frank’s partner and Rita’s husband Denny. Frank ... more
8 of 8 Ciao users found the following review helpful

laura2310

An education is for life, not just for christmas. 07/08/2009

User recommends the product

Advantages Great characters - very 'real'
Disadvantages Not great if you don't like reading?

Willy Russell is a playwright from Liverrpool, England. He grew up in a poor council estate and did not enjoy school. He became a ladies hairdresser after leaving education. He later returned to education and trained to become a lecturer while writing in his spare time. Educating Rita is set in 1980's Liverpool and stars Rita, a twenty six year old hairdresser, and Frank, a University lecturer in his fifties. The play follows Rita's experience of becoming a mature student and the changes that occur in her life due to the choice and freedom that come with an education. As you can see, Russell ... more
0 of 1 Ciao users found the following review helpful

tbreeze

Excellent piece of theatre 11/07/2000

User recommends the product

Advantages Excellent as a performance piece
Disadvantages Not a play just to be read

Willy Russell's "Educating Rita" is a wonderful play - but frequently misunderstood. It is essentially a play to be watched, not read. Whether it was Russell's intention or not, most of the entertainment comes from good portrayal of the characters, rather than from what they say alone. As a play with a moral, it is superb. Russell's attack on the education system, as well as the ignorance of the individual, as opposed to that of the lower classes (as it is often, but wrongly, interpreted) is handled with satire and subtlety. My advice is to see a well-produced performance before reading the ... more
27 of 31 Ciao users found the following review helpful

dodgeinator

Educating Rita 07/11/2007

User recommends the product

Advantages A great two hander play loved by many
Disadvantages Meaning is quite deep and may be difficualt to understand

A classic play, which underlines the principles of classes of classes. The protagonists in this two hander play are Rita is a stereotypical hair dresser who longs for change to become Middle Class and Frank who is a University Proffesor with PHD, yet also an alcoholic. In order to start a better life, Rita decides to join the open university. For those of you who do not know in the 70's it was very rare for someone to go to university and only 5% of people went. Then the Open University was opened by the Prime Minister, meaning people could go to University for free, without any ... more
28 of 31 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Quick review of Educating Rita - Willy Russell by nosignaluk 14/11/2007

A Classic Two Hander Play with two stereotypical polar opposite, protagonists both longing for each others life style, Frank and Rita. less
4 of 7 Ciao users found the following review helpful

hevvayates

Educating Rita 17/06/2008

User recommends the product

Advantages Hilarious and tragic
Disadvantages Only two characters on stage - have to be amazing actors to pull it off!

I have taught this play for over ten years and still find it both hilarious and thought provoking. My students also love it - especially when their teacher has to swear in the reading of it! The characters are full and completely believeable - the maverick, jaundiced Frank and the naive, ebullient Rita. An audience can feel sympathy and frustration in equal measure for the tutor and hairdresser who are thrown together in order to educate Rita. The language used by the characters tells us as much about them as they do themselves and, as there no other characters or scene changes, provide much ... more
2 of 3 Ciao users found the following review helpful

raimbow

worth a read 26/10/2000

User recommends the product

Advantages interesting and thought provoking
Disadvantages some narrow minded peole think its boring

i have just completed reading educating rita for my GCSE course work. i have to say at first i was a bit dubious about it, what with it only having two charactors and just one set. it depends what frame of mind you approach it with though as it is a good read, it is thought provoking. the thing is though if you think it's boring then it will come across as boring as some people do think that it is boring, it's only as boring as you want it to be. i would reccomend seeing it on stage though as it wasn't written to be read. definatly worth reading or going to see though. ... more
0 of 1 Ciao users found the following review helpful

CarpeDiem

Dull and unfunny 08/07/2000

User doesn't recommend the product

Advantages Nothing
Disadvantages Unfunny, pitiful

This play won the 1980 comic play award. With this in mind, you may be expecting something vaguely funny. Cast that thought from your mind. The jokes are feeble, and mainly to do with Rita's lower-class accent. Although this play is short, about 80 pages, it really is not funny. The story is of Rita, the lower-class hairdresser, who wants to become educated to escape social conventions. She joins the OU and meets Frank, the alcoholic tutor, who grows to like Rita and want to help her. The only praise I give this play is for its plot, which is original and well thought out. But this was spoiled ... more