Rita
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts
Teaching Guide for Educating Rita
The following information was put together using the written text of Educating Rita and is not specifically about the production taking place at The Segal Centre this fall. Some of the magic of live theatre comes from the fact that every performance is an event unto itself. As a result there may be some differences between the play as it is described here and the performance that you will see at The Segal Centre.
Background Information
Educating Rita, written by British playwright Willy Russell, was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and premiered at The Warehouse, London, in June 1980. The play went on to win the Society of West End Theatres award for Best Comedy in the same year. The play was adapted by Willy Russell into a 1983 award-winning film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.
Setting
The play takes place entirely in Frank’s office at a university in the North of England. The original play took place in the 1980’s but the script was revised in 2003 to be more generically “contemporary”.
The Playwright
"I wanted to make a play which engaged and was relevant to those who considered themselves uneducated, those whose daily language is not the language of the university or the theatre. I wanted to write a play which would attract, and be as valid for, the Ritas in the audience as well as the Franks." Willy Russell, born and raised in a suburb of Liverpool, came from a working-class background. Some of his experiences in early adulthood are reflected in his play Educating Rita. Russell left school after completing only one O-level (comprehensive exams taken in the equivalent of grade 10) in English Literature and went on to become a hairdresser. At age 20 he returned to school and became a teacher. Echoes of all of these experiences, his working-class upbringing, leaving school early, hairdressing and later becoming a teacher, can be seen in Educating Rita, a
Teaching Guide for Educating Rita
The following information was put together using the written text of Educating Rita and is not specifically about the production taking place at The Segal Centre this fall. Some of the magic of live theatre comes from the fact that every performance is an event unto itself. As a result there may be some differences between the play as it is described here and the performance that you will see at The Segal Centre.
Background Information
Educating Rita, written by British playwright Willy Russell, was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and premiered at The Warehouse, London, in June 1980. The play went on to win the Society of West End Theatres award for Best Comedy in the same year. The play was adapted by Willy Russell into a 1983 award-winning film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.
Setting
The play takes place entirely in Frank’s office at a university in the North of England. The original play took place in the 1980’s but the script was revised in 2003 to be more generically “contemporary”.
The Playwright
"I wanted to make a play which engaged and was relevant to those who considered themselves uneducated, those whose daily language is not the language of the university or the theatre. I wanted to write a play which would attract, and be as valid for, the Ritas in the audience as well as the Franks." Willy Russell, born and raised in a suburb of Liverpool, came from a working-class background. Some of his experiences in early adulthood are reflected in his play Educating Rita. Russell left school after completing only one O-level (comprehensive exams taken in the equivalent of grade 10) in English Literature and went on to become a hairdresser. At age 20 he returned to school and became a teacher. Echoes of all of these experiences, his working-class upbringing, leaving school early, hairdressing and later becoming a teacher, can be seen in Educating Rita, a