Educating Rita
By Willy Russell
2007 National Tour
June 22 – October 27, 2007 – 18.5 week tour to 50 venues in VIC, ACT, TAS, SA, NSW, QLD, WA, NT
Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Traralgon, Moorabbin, South Morang, Werribee, Camperdown, Portland, Tuggeranong, Swan Hill, Bayswater, Benalla, Devonport, Horsham, Warburton, Ballarat, Shepparton, Prahran, Ararat, Colac, Marryatville, Broken Hill, Griffith, Gunnedah, Taree, Narrabri, Tenterfield, Lismore, Logan, Redcliffe, Boonah, Brisbane, Proserpine, Mackay, Gladstone, Hamilton, Ringwood, Wangaratta, Wagga Wagga, Parramatta, Karratha, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Perth, Mandurah, Bunbury, Port Hedland, Darwin, Thuringowa & Cairns.
A production by Christine Harris & HIT Productions
“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 Ritas in the audience as well as the Franks.”
Willy Russell
Australia’s Premier Theatre Touring Company, HIT Productions is pleased to announce the 2007 tour of Educating Rita starring Lisa Chappell (McLeod’s Daughters and 2004 Gold Logie Nominee) and David Downer (All Saints). Frank is a cynical, burnt out English professor, who drinks far too much whiskey. Rita is a hairdresser and a bit naive. She has however a wonderful and indeed desperate thirst for knowledge and she chooses Frank of all people to introduce her to ‘Culture’. Frank soon discovers that Rita has a lot more common sense than the so-called educated class within which he moves. He begins to fall in love with Rita for her zest for life, her almost childlike qualities and her simple, natural intelligence. But Rita’s life soon changes in this new environment. Two very different worlds then collide, merging to produce a charming human comedy and a wonderfully entertaining modern day Pygmalion. Written by Willy Russell, the playwright behind the ever-popular Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita is sure to have excellent general public appeal.
Educating Rita boasts the exceptional talents of Director, Jennifer Hagan (HIT’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers, President Wilson in Paris), Designer, Jamie Clennett (HIT’s Double Act) and Lighting Designer, Glenn Hughes (HIT’s Hotel Sorrento).
“It’s difficult to do Educating Rita badly. The 80 minutes crackle away with line after line of wit, insight and more layers than your aunty’s wedding cake.”
Chris Ozog, Edinburgh Festival, UK
Educating Rita is produced by HIT’s Founder and CEO, Christine Harris; award-winning actress (Amy Carson in Carson’s Law) and recipient of the 1997 Victorian Entrepreneur of the Year Award and 1999 Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame inductee. Educating Rita is part of 40 weeks of national touring to be undertaken this year by HIT Productions, the company which has produced, as part of its 33 touring productions since 1999 such successes as Hotel Sorrento, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Love Child and many more.
Cast
Rita: Lisa Chappell
Frank: David Downer
Creatives
Director: Jennifer Hagan
Designer: Jamie Clennett
Lighting Designer: Glenn Hughes