Educating Rita
Most people will be familiar with the 1983 film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, but despite the play being written and set in the late 70’s/early 80’s, Willy Russell’s writing remains timeless. The themes of the main influential male characters in Rita’s life wanting to control her and shape her into something that they want her to be, only to find that she has her own thoughts and dreams and has the willpower to succeed in them despite others trying to persuade her she is something else, is nothing new.
The play is a two hander, with Dominic Mafham as Frank and Alexandra Mardell in the title role of Rita. Both have strong performances and Cara Nolan’s direction has the pair verbally sparing with each other wonderfully.
Educating Rita tells the story of twenty something ‘Rita,’ real name Susan White, who amidst her dreams of making more of the life she has been dealt, enrols on an Open University course. Frank is enlisted as her tutor and through their weekly tutorials they begin a love/hate relationship that transforms into a challenging and life changing relationship for them both.
Mafham plays Frank delightfully and captures the drunken, failed poet perfectly. His disappointment in himself is projected on to the ever-growing Rita and as his career freefalls, Rita’s life becomes the epitome of the dream lifestyle she always wanted. Mardell is a noble Rita; her characterisation of the iconic role captures the vulnerability and the unfailing drive that is needed for her to become the woman she has always aspired to be, but was told she could never achieve.
The story is forever relatable. The male characters wanting to put the female in her place and keep her there, whilst projecting to her that this is really want she wants. Misogyny may not be as blatant now as it was in the 80’s, but the difference is that we now recognise it for what it is and can stomp on it before it takes root, just as Rita does in the play.
Michael Taylor’s set and costume design transport us to this era wonderfully and the production has a fly on the wall feel for the audience, as we watch the story play out. We delight in watching Rita grow and become the person that she has always aspired to be but could only ever dream that it would really happen to her.
This is a brilliantly engaging production, and the dialogue is played like a tennis match, continuously back and forth between the two central characters.
A brilliant evening of theatre for anyone who has dreams they are yet to fulfil.
This show was reviewed on the 2nd October 2026 at the Curve Theatre, Leicester where it runs until the 17th October 2026. Tickets available here: Educating Rita - Curve Theatre, Leicester
Review written by Rachel Louise Martin
AD/Gifted
Photo credit : Jonathan Pryke
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