One way Rita changes is her name, She changes it because she's aiming to change altogether as a person. Evidence which I have to support this is Rita explains "I'm not a Susan anymore. I've called meself Rita y'know after Rita Mae Brown". I would advise the actress to say Susan quietly to suggest it is in the past and pronounce Rita in a very proud and confident way.
Another way Rita changes into a new person is the way she speaks and pronounces words. Rita says "I have merely decided to talk properly" . Rita comes in speaking in a peculiar voice and well spoken as Trish (her flatmate) tells her 'There's not a lot of point in discussing beautiful literature in an ugly voice'. As a director I would tell her to speak in a less liverpudlian accent and pronounce all words form start to finish. An received pronunciation accent would be effective and a drastic change.
Rita again changes by her independence. Since she's been very enthusiastic about her education she's become very independent and confident. Rita's husband Denny didn't want her focusing on education, instead he wanted a family, he made Rita choose between education or him.
Rita's attitude changes because she wants to fit in with all the people at Frank's house who have been educated. Frank invited her for dinner at his house with a few of his colleagues. In the end she didn't go because she had trouble finding the right dress, then she got the wrong bus, when she got the right bus she stood on Frank's drive and felt panicky that she didn't have the right wine or she wouldn't fit in. Frank specifically told her "You could have come as yourself, they would have seen someone who's funny, delightful, charming …….".
However Rita was not impressed and angrily replied "But I don’t wanna be charming, delightful: funny, I don’t want to be myself. Me? What's me? " This is suggesting that she's trying to form a new Rita to fit in with everyone because she starts to become anxious. The advice I would give the actress playing Rita is speak well spoken, watch Rita's manners and act as a more serious person.
Rita gets a new job, she moves from a hairdresser shop to a bistro. This shows that she wants a better job to go along with her new image. Rita claims that in her old job everyone in there talks about "Boring, irrelevant detail all the time" and says proudly, We talk about what's important ". Rita doesn't have a care in the world that she's ditched her long time job by saying 'Who care's if I've left hairdressin' to work in a bistro'. As a director I would advise the actress playing Rita to talk dull and gloomy when she talks about hairdressing and delighted when she talks about her new job. She could change the rhythm in her speeches to reflect the level of excitement about the two places.
By the end of Act Two Rita has physically changed into a new and improved woman. When she got invited round for tea Rita asked Frank "What shall I wear?". This shows that all the people at Frank's are for example a group of tigers and she's a different form of animal and she want's to change into a tiger to fit in with everyone. She will do anything to change.
The role of Rita is very exciting because she is a multi-faced, 3 dimensional character. Throughout the play Rita changes in confidence, physical change, personality, status and attitude. The actress playing Rita needs to act in a variety of ways conveying a range of emotions such as happy, sad, angry, proud, disgusted, nosy and enthusiastic. The director's role is challenging, as this role is hugely diverse. Russell uses Rita as his voicepeice to express his own opinions of education and class, also a good director would translate these opinions to the audience.
