In terms of her relation to the character of Frank and the way the actors interact on stage, the actress playing Rita needs to interact with Frank more as if they are having a conversation on random things, rather than if Frank is interviewing her for the Open University. I think this because in that scene Rita just starts walking around Frank’s room, going on about the painting on the wall and then why she’s there at the University. A key moment in the scene, which reveals Rita’s character at this stage in the play, is when she says, “I was dead surprised when they took me. I don’t suppose they would have done it if it’d been a proper university.” Here, I think the actress should act really happy and chuffed about getting in to the Open University and should get up again and start walking around the room while speaking with Frank. By doing this I want her to show her happiness, enthusiasm and anxiety towards the Open University course. Another key moment in the scene is when Frank refuses to teach Rita and she says, “I’m on this course, you are my teacher-an’ you’re gonna bleedin’ well teach me.” At this point I would like the actress to move in front of Frank to refrain him from walking away, point her finger at him and increase the tone of voice she is using with him. This is important because it shows that her mind is set on the course and she will only have Frank teach her.
The second scene I have chosen to direct is Act Two Scene One. This scene differs from Act One Scene One because Rita has a lot more confidence in herself than in the scene before and she also is asking more about Frank’s life such as why he hasn’t given up whisky. She also now wants to learn and is more social and has learnt to ask questions frequently when ever she has a query. She has become much more open about her learning and is now not afraid to stand up and say, “Sorry, I don’t understand.”
The audience now sees Rita as an intellectual who appreciates poetry greatly and has a strong will to learn as much as she can. An actress playing Rita in this scene would need act like a woman who appreciates poetry and has a strong will to learn as much as she can about it. The actress’s movement and gestures would also need to flow like poetry as she is very relaxed with talking to new people about her poetry course. I would suggest that the actress now wears long, flowing dresses, with flat heeled shoes and a hair band because this attire would more suit an intellectual person like herself. This aatire would also suit her as she has learnt that not all men just want women who reveal themselves, they want smart, good looking women who are very independent. The actress would need to talk much slower than in Act One Scene One as she is not nervous talking to new people and is very relaxed when in a room with Frank. She would not need to use swearing any more as she has learnt to express herself in other ways than swearing. She would also not be abbreviating her speech, but she would still be using a northern accent. The actress’ movement and gestures in this scene need to be more slow and relaxed rather than quick and nervous. This shows how comfortable she is with the course and with talking with new people about poetry. Her movements flow from one to another like in poetry when on stanza leads in another.
In terms of her relation to the character of Frank and the way the actors interact on stage, the actress playing Rita needs to interact with Frank on the subject on hand, such as different types of poetry rather than talking gibberish about random things around the room like she did in the first scene. I think this because in this scene all that Rita was talking about was the types of poetry she had learnt a summer school and the type of poetry she will learn now. This shows that she has become much more interested in the course than she was at the start of it. A key moment in the scene, which reveals Rita’s character at this stage in the play, is when she says, “Work? We never stopped.” Here I think the actress should act as though she is ecstatic that she was working all that time and that she did essay after essay. I want her to show how well she is progressing through her course and how fond she is of it. Another key moment in this scene is when Frank finds out that she has already done the next step of her course; William Blake. At this point I would like the actress to act really chuffed again as she knew something already that Frank wanted to teach her. This is important as it again shows how well she is progressing in the course.
From the analysis of the chosen scenes, I believe I have shown how the character of Rita changes as she progresses through the play. As Rita’s character changes from unschooled, working class girl to an intellectual person who enjoys sharing poetry with other people, my evaluation shows what she had to do to become what she is now. In Act One, Scene One to Act Two, Scene One you see that Rita progresses at a high rate. By just going to summer school she has found confidence in herself. It is important for an actress to be able to do a variety of acting otherwise she will never make it to Broadway or the West End or any other type of acting areas. The scenes would need different backgrounds to show what her mood to the course is at the moment and how comfortable she is with it.