Educating Rita

Classic Willy Russell deserves, no, demands a classy cast, and that is exactly what we got last night. Matthew Kelly and Claire Sweeney may have made their names in popular TV entertainment but here they prove that they can both deliver a fine stage performance. Kelly as the affable alcoholic academic is a lovable if lost cause. Slipping into a booze-clouded state he questions his already shaky belief in his role as tutor and poet as Rita’s innocent but candid truths hit home – “So assonance is just a bad rhyme?” she queries and he concedes that it is. Sweeney is perfect as the aspirational hairdresser who needs to ‘improve herself’. Most impressive though is the quickfire pace of their performance. The sharp academic wit of Frank sparring with the scouse wit of Rita ricocheted around the stage at a speed that, whilst never losing clarity, had the audience on the edge of their seats. This can only be achieved by actors who have invested both time and talent in a performance. Sweeney and Kelly have invested both and pulled off a theatrical coup that confirms their places as actors and Russell’s as a great playwright.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 17 July 2012

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