Willy Russell's Educating Rita is a celebration of the human spirit, an engaging and moving play that reveals two contrasting characters in depth as they grow to know and respect each other.
Rita is a 26-year old woman, married into Liverpool working-class life, who senses that her existence is largely meaningless, and that there must be a world elsewhere.
Her questing spirit draws her towards the freedoms offered by education, and she enrols in an Open University course. Her tutor, Frank, is an alcoholic poet who is disillusioned with the teaching process, but recognises something fresh and genuine in Rita's persona and ambition.
He points her in various directions, taking care to respect her individuality and native intelligence, but they are at odds in some respects. Frank is an ineffectual rebel against authority and convention, and tries to bring her with him.
But Rita is not for fighting lost academic or political battles; she just wants to sing better songs, to have a fulfilling life.
As she grows in knowledge and confidence, and increasingly makes her own decisions, the gaps between them widen.
Like a child that grows and flees the nest, Rita begins to move away, finally the more mature of the two.
Frank's drinking brings him into increasing conflict with the college authorities, and he is offered a transfer to Australia or the sack. He chooses the former, and his innate honesty augurs well for this new, if unsought, beginning.
Structured in a succession of short, staccato scenes, the play explores its characters with truth and dramatic tension. Maxine Fone is a vivacious, direct Rita, easy to like and empathise with. Barry McGovern's Frank, a hirsute figure in tweeds and cords, combines an intellectual cutting edge with the sense of a man teetering on the edge of a private cliff. Individually and in interaction, they are splendid.
Brian de Salvo's direction brings out the essential nuances of characters and speech, and has the benefit of a massive and impressive set design by Karen Weaver.
Continues to 28th July; to book phone 01-2312929
