"Educating Rita has survived as a popular play in production because Willy Russell successfully combines humour with serious themes."
"Educating Rita has survived as a popular play in production because Willy Russell successfully combines humour with serious themes."
Educating Rita, a play written in 1979, and by 1983 the fourth most popular play in Britain, remains a favourite of the British today. Based partly on his own experiences, Willy Russell created a theatrical masterpiece, remarkably with only two characters. So we ask ourselves the question: how did he accomplish this? I will explore just how the play has survived in current British culture, with hundreds of plays being written every year, yet still remaining a favourite of students, grandparents, and critics alike.
I will first explore the humour within the play, and the different forms it takes. Firstly is verbal; one example can be taken from the very first scene, where Rita's boldness and Frank's obvious shocked response makes us laugh, and endears us.
On stage, we have only just met Rita and Frank. We are unaware of how the two characters personalities are, and the only thing we have to judge them on is their appearance.
Rita: "That's a nice picture, isn't it?" (referring to a nude painting upon his office wall)
Frank: "....yes, I suppose it is."
Rita: "There's no suppose about it. Look at those tits."
This kind of sheer boldness in Rita is what makes her original, and Willy Russell's choice of verbal slang is perfect to create Rita's character, and indeed keeps the audience amused throughout. Frank's strictly formal answer is the opposite of Rita's easy loose language, and this makes the characters seem even more different.
The juxtaposition of the pairs vocabulary skills also contributes to the plays comedic essence. Rita's ridiculously shortened words: "D' y' get a lot like me?" compared to Frank's wide range of perfectly pronounced vocabulary: "You mean over the years you have acquired a certain patina." certainly amuses, if only sub consciously.
There are also simple play on words between Frank and Rita:
Frank: "Do you know Yeats?"
Rita: "The wine Lodge?"
Frank: "No. The poet."
These small jokes all contribute to the overall authentic comedy within the play.
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The juxtaposition of the pairs vocabulary skills also contributes to the plays comedic essence. Rita's ridiculously shortened words: "D' y' get a lot like me?" compared to Frank's wide range of perfectly pronounced vocabulary: "You mean over the years you have acquired a certain patina." certainly amuses, if only sub consciously.
There are also simple play on words between Frank and Rita:
Frank: "Do you know Yeats?"
Rita: "The wine Lodge?"
Frank: "No. The poet."
These small jokes all contribute to the overall authentic comedy within the play.
There is also situational humour within the play. An example of this is when Frank attempts to help Rita learn to write good criticising literary essays, yet she has written an appreciative essay on "Rubyfruit Jungle," an erotic book that would never even be considered to be included on an English course. Frank's attempt to make Rita understand is completely wasted upon her at this moment in time, but is funny and keeps the audience interested to see if Rita will ever appreciate "Good literature."
These comedic situations, juxtaposed with the more seriously natured ones, such as when Rita's flatmate attempts suicide, work well.
I will now explore the serious themes, and how they contribute to the play. I believe the main and most important theme of the play is social divide. Rita is from an underprivileged background, where she feels trapped by the restraints it brings her. She wishes to "Find herself," and she plans to do this through English literature. Rita is unhappy, and will not feel fulfilled unless she does something with her life. This is touching, and would be especially if you were part of an audience at a live performance, as you feel even more emotionally involved with the character. Not only is it a touching theme, it is an issue which is still around today, and many can relate to how Rita feels. We are all aware of the social divide that still remains in Britain, however much we are ashamed of it. Many born into poverty get caught in the "poverty trap" a vicious cycle that carries on throughout generations in families, and is ultimately very hard to escape from. We are touched by Rita's determination, her commitment, and her love for literature. This links into the theme of education, and how shockingly different the standard of education we receive makes our lives. This applies particularly in British cities today, where it is hard to attain high standard grades in comprehensives, due to lack of personal attention.
However, we are also shocked by Frank's unhappiness, even though he has everything Rita is desperate for. He proves that Many theatre goers may be able to relate to either Frank or Rita's situation, students may relate to Rita's passion and commitment to what is a very demanding university course, and some may relate to Frank's unhappiness in his what appears perfect but is in fact very troubled life.
Alcoholism is an issue explored through Frank. Alcoholism is a relatively big issue within today's society, and one of the main causes of the poverty that exists in Britain. Frank's problem with alcohol within the play is slowly built up by Russell, and reaches it's peak when Frank turns up to a lecture drunk. This is a fairly big shock for the audience, as Frank is a highly respected man, and yet even a man of his intelligence and quality of life is so torn up that he turns to alcohol.
Other themes explored include Suicide, the role of women, and relationships and divorce. Although suicide and the role of women aren't very big problems in Britain's society today, all theatre goers will be aware and will be sensitive about them. They are thought provoking issues.
However, relationships and divorce are a very big issue, and many can relate to the situations Rita and Frank get themselves into. Rita feels trapped by her husband, he refuses to understand what she is going through, "He's blind, he doesn't want to see" and is under pressure from him to have a baby, and subsequently leaves him. Many men and women find themselves in that situation, and can relate to how Rita feels and the emotional hardship involved with making the decision to leave someone. Others may also find themselves in Frank's situation, where a relationship has lost its spark and fizzled out, and the person now finds themselves stuck in another relationship they don't particularly wish to be in.
We should also consider that Frank and Rita are protagonist roles, and we become very involved with them. They are both very likeable, and although they are almost opposites, they are similar in many ways. The emotions and situations they go through are extremely realistic and we can all relate to either Frank or Rita in a way.
It should also be considered that many of the people going to see this play would be English literature students, and could relate to the play in that sense. Literary students could also appreciate the well written dialogue, including the balance between humour and emotional content I have been discussing.
I personally believe that the play has lasted for over 30 years because the themes its contains can be related to almost any adult in Britain over the last 30 years. Almost everyone has dealt with one of the problems presented within the play, yet it has been written with such skill that it is not too heavy, and the comedis elements involved make it thoroughly enjoyable. The balance of humour and serious issues is perfect, and Russell is obviously a very talented scriptwriter, also shown by his highly acclaimed (especially by myself) "Blood Brothers" in which he explores the theme of social divide again. Both the characters are unique and original, and we are entranced by their relationship in particular. The cliffhanger ending and serious issues involved leave an impression upon us, and we continue to think about the play long after seeing it or reading it.
