Educating Rita - back to school with Willy Russell revival

★★★

Rita wants to know it all. About art, poetry, literature, theatre. Frank wants to go to the pub.

Dominic Mafham (Frank) and Alexandra Mardell (Rita), photo by Jonathan Pryke

When the two are paired as student and teacher at the Open University, they strike an unlikely friendship, wherein both have a lot to learn from the other.

Frank is disillusioned with life, and the type of man who takes lettuce out of his sandwich. Rita is wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, and eager to learn. She wants to "find herself"; he wants her to write exam-worthy essays.

As the student, Alexandra Mardell gives an A* performance. She is fun and easily likeable. With a thick Scouse accent and witty takes, she struts confidently in knee-high boots. Dominic Mafham as Frank is individually strong too. But together, I just couldn't invest in their relationship. The conversational dialogue felt slow, almost stilted and over-rehearsed.

I don't easily support their relationship dynamic, either. Frank, we learn, is bunking up with an ex-student, Julia. It sets a pattern for his penchant for girls hungry for knowledge, girls he is more than happy to feed. Director Cara Nolan leans into this tension, with close physical contact and lingering eyes. There’s an Uno Reverse in the second half, when Rita, with tamed hair, emerges as a scholarly woman, much to the distaste of an increasingly drunken Frank, frustrated with his loss of control over her.

The study sessions take place during the evenings, and as time progresses, the lighting (Katy Morison) slowly dims in each scene as winter crawls in. Michael Taylor has designed an office overstuffed with stray books and papers; the type of middle-class mess that looks impressive and purposeful because the objects are highly regarded. Really, it is a representation of Frank's loss of will, but Rita idolises the set-up. An 80s soundtrack pre-show does a little to help set the scene.

Willy Russell's famed piece carves some interesting characters and takes, but ultimately it is very repetitive, and could use a little more of the poetry it criticises.