Review: Educating Rita (Curve Leicester)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️

You don’t usually have to look far to see a production of one of Willy Russell’s classics, from the recently acclaimed West End production of Shirley Valentine starring Sheridan Smith, to the ever-present Blood Brothers, continually touring the UK and still thrilling audiences every night. One of his most famous and well-loved works is inexplicably one I had never had the opportunity to see, but upon seeing that a new production of Educating Rita was being staged at one of my favourite theatres, Curve Leicester, I didn’t hesitate to right a theatrical wrong and finally see it. Would this production successfully finish at the top of the class, or would it be marked as a fail?

Educating Rita is a two-hander focusing on the relationship between bright-eyed twenty-something Susan White, otherwise known as Rita, with Frank, the teacher she is assigned after enrolling in an Open University course. Rita's desire to learn more about literature and poetry and understand how to critique what she has read is initially thwarted by the disheveled and disillusioned Frank, but her determination to continue leads to an unlikely friendship where both end up finding things to teach the other about.

Willy Russell’s story crams in many powerful and substantial themes such as class, power dynamics, addiction and abuse. Debuting in 1980, there is a sense that the show is a product of its time and comes across rather dated in certain aspects - something I haven’t experienced with Russell’s other works. Seemingly throwaway and lighthearted comments about sexual abuse were fairly alarming in the way they were played for laughs, though this could be more to do with the directorial choices than anything else (more on that shortly). The abuse of power that comes with the relationship between Frank and the seedy comments he makes about Rita, elevated by the knowledge he is prone to dating his students, throws up some ethical questions that are immediately dismissed and never expanded on, giving an unsatisfied sense that the surface has barely been scratched and most potential squandered.

I believe my frustrations are more with the production itself, as opposed to Willy Russell’s original material, as director Cara Nolan deploys some baffling choices that left the production feeling drastically underdeveloped. A sense of low energy permeated throughout with each scene transition awkwardly placed. The use of dull and generic music played on a backing track from one scene to the next made me feel as if I was watching an episode of Gogglebox and I was about to hear people discussing what they had just seen on TV that night. An inconceivable choice that did nothing for the production. The inadequate way these scene changes were handled led to a ripple effect for both the end of Act One and the interval. Nobody was initially sure if it was the actual interval at the performance I attended, and the deathly silence that filled the audience when Educating Rita finally ended may well be the most awkward thing I have ever experienced at the theatre. It took the lights to come back on and the cast to begin their bows for the audience to realise the show had ended and start to react - one of the strongest examples of how flawed Nolan’s direction sadly is throughout this production.

Dominic Mafham also suffers through the direction choices in his characterisation of Frank, with the sense he has been given the wrong notes to steer him in the role. Where the character is rightly disillusioned, Mafham’s performance comes across as simply bored, with no versatility in his delivery making for a fairly monotonous performance. The moments where Mafham is on the cusp of breaking out into greater territory showcases his strengths as an actor, but how stifled he has been through some questionable direction.

Alexandra Mardell fairs much better as Rita, however, delivering an exuberant performance that lights up the stage with her every appearance. Perhaps more time and care went into the planning for Rita’s characterisation in this production as it really is night and day - everything that doesn’t work with Frank is the polar opposite for Rita. Mardell is a revelation and is undoubtedly the strongest part of the underwhelming production, in a stellar performance I couldn’t take my eyes away from.

Though I hadn’t seen a production of Educating Rita before personally, I get the sense that the show is better than this version of it. I don’t want to put all of the blame on the director when I am sure she is more than capable herself, but something didn’t quite align with her vision and how it was realised on stage. When a show is as low-energy as this, it is very hard to get an audience to invest in the story and feel that crucial connection, as was the case with me and others I noticed in the audience around me. At the heart of Educating Rita is the idea that it is never too late to start again - an admirable and inspiring message that can bring great comfort to many of us. Unfortunately, due to the issues I had with this particular production, it may be a case that they need to take their own advice and start again to ensure this production passes the grade,

Educating Rita plays at Curve Leicester until 17th October. Tickets from https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/educating-rita/

Photos by Jonathan Pryke