"Educating Rita" January 2, 2009

The Denver Victorian Playhouse presents
Educating Rita
By Willy Russell
Directed by Rick Bernstein

"I wanted to make a play which engaged and was relevant to those who considered themselves uneducated,
Those whose daily language is not the language of the university or the theatre. I wanted to write a play which would attract, and be as valid for, the Rita’s in the audience as the Franks." - Willy Russell

The Denver Victorian Playhouse opens “Educating Rita” on Friday, January 2 with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. through February 21, 2009. Tickets are $22.00 and available by calling 303-433-4343 or online at www.denvervic.com.

Frank (Wade Wood) is a tutor of English whose disillusioned outlook on life drives him to the bottle. Rita (Rita Broderick) is a hairdresser hungry to find some meaning to life. With Frank as her tutor Rita embarks on an Open University course and her education process begins. The effects are both amusing and dramatic as her fresh, intuitive approach becomes clouded and stifled as she grapples with the problem of a formal education, while Frank also learns something - to believe in himself again.

University lecturer Frank needs to earn some extra money, so he agrees to tutor an Open University student. His student Rita is a brash, earthy hairdresser with a recently discovered passion for higher education, much to the dismay of her husband Denny. In her attempts to appreciate literature, Rita challenges the attitudes of a traditional university, teaching Frank to question his own understanding of his work and himself. The play explores the relationship between student and tutor.

The play was inspired by Willy's experiences at evening classes. Much of the comedy arises from Rita's fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics of English literature, but she is never patronized by Russell, who recognizes from his own experience that education is a means of escape from one's own circumstances.

Denver Victorian Playhouse presents
“Educating Rita”
Rita, a brash hairdresser, discovers a passion for higher education in Willy Russell’s take on “Pygmalion”.
Jan. 2 - Feb. 21, 2009
Fri.\Sat. at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets $22.00
4201 Hooker St., Denver
Tickets: 303-433-4343 or online at
www.denvervic.com