Educating Rita

Willy Russell seems to be going through a slight resurgence in Scotland at the moment. Shirley Valentine was the subject of a recent episode of the BBC’s Movie Connections, the West End tour of Blood Brothers is currently floating about and now the Citizens is staging a production of Educating Rita.

Playing like a modern, university version of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady, Rita follows the exploits of a working-class woman whose desire to ‘learn everything’ has led to a decision to take an Open University course.

Set in the office of her tutor, Frank, the play follows her progression from ‘common’ to ‘educated’ while also chronicling Frank’s descent into alcoholism and self-doubt as he questions his life and the effect his teaching has on Rita. With such heavy ideas at play, the piece is, of course, a very witty comedy.

Russell’s script is full of clever lines and scenarios but is mostly safe material. There is an undercurrent of some major social and economic observations, but most of these are glossed over in favour of comedic one-upmanship between the two characters. While this isn’t necessarily a flaw, it does mean that Educating Rita isn’t nearly as socially conscious or critical as much as Russell’s other work.

Jeremy Raison’s production follows suit as it can best be described as ‘nice’. It is nicely directed, designed and acted. Nothing overly insulting, challenging or complicated ever occurs onstage, and it feels like theatre’s equivalent of a nice cup of cocoa on a cold afternoon: pleasant, satisfying and cosy.

Both actors, Emma Cunniffe and Charles Lawson, give strong performances. Each plays off the other well and manages to illustrate the rather large arches of transition both characters take. Accents may have been occasionally dropped and some lines may have been thrown away, but both are so likeable that any performance flaw is easily forgiven. Wisely, neither tries to imitate the performances given by Julie Walters or Michael Caine, who played the parts in the film.

Educating Rita may not be the most memorable production of the year but still proves pleasant enough, with two very polished performances that manage to elicit a number of well-earned laughs.