Rita recounts to Frank, her open university tutor, of a night at the pub, that among the sing song and revelry, she sees her mother crying. Rita asks what's wrong and she answers 'because we could sing better songs than those'. It is one of the straws, along with her wanting to be educated about everything that keeps Rita going, even when up against her husband, Denny, and the world weariness, or at least academia weariness, of Frank. One is trying to find their way, the other, lost. Willy Russell's excellent play, and one I love, is full of wry observations, great wit, laugh out loud moments, alongside the theme of change, education and what it means, is really a play for all time. In this Lyric Theatre, Belfast production, directed by Emma Jordan, the action is relocated to Northern Ireland. On the day the death of Martin McGuinness was announced we have a production where the lights of helicopters flying overhead shine through the large windows of Frank's university room, alongside references of war and snippets of radio interviews about hunger strikers and John Hume. Although the relocation doesn't make any major impact on the play itself, the characters and story remain centre stage and could be argued that it makes no material difference.
While the city and country changes, the room of the university doesn’t, and Stuart Marshall’s splendid rendering of this large space, with lines of books, and the old furniture, makes it a wonderful place to be; an oasis from the the world out there. In this spot, time stays still, Chekov and Blake come in, and seasons change through the large windows, but nothing changes inside, except the location of Frank’s booze.
Russell’s characters are wonderful and different from each other. The flippant, wisecracking Rita (Kerri Quinn), the weary, giving up Frank (Michael James Ford), who, unlike Henry Higgins, doesn't want to change her, and doesn't understand why she wants to change in the first place. Here Frank comes over more bungling at first, a variation of Robert Crawley of Downton Abbey, the booze ever present and hidden behind books. But Frank is in awe of the ‘perfect Rita’. Rita gets a lot of the great lines, although the feeling that some were rushed remains. While one soars despite the odds, the other falls, and to Rita who hasn't got an education, she craves and envys it in the students she is initially wary of, feels Frank is throwing it away. The two work well together, and combined with Russell's writing, interest is mantained and it all moves along at a lovely pace, although a little more volume might help.
As Rita’s thinking changes so does her appearance. Her change is at the heart and comes over visually through great choice of costumes from Enda Kenny. But this visual is important, as it underlies Rita’s change from reading the kind of poetry you can understand, to immersing herself in Blake during summer school.
Rita is hungry for it all, while Frank is fed up. And Russell charts this so well, through a two person play and one room location, we travel out to the masses, to her roommates, and the other students. The kind that populate any city. And of course, Russell’s writing makes us laugh and think in equal measure, although sometimes this was lost a little bit.
Runs until 25 March
Writer: Willy Russell
Director: Emma Jordan
Rita - Kerri Quinn
Frank - Michael James Ford
Set Design - Stuart Marshall
Costume Design - Enda Kenny
Sound Design - Philip Stewart
Lighting Design - Sarah Jane Shiels
Photo - Stefan Hill
Photo - Stefan Hill