Plays 52 - Educating Rita by Willy Russell

14. Educating Rita - Willy Russell

Educating Rita is the story of how a working class woman attempts to improve herself by taking part in an Open University course in English Literature. Rita works as a hairdresser and is feisty yet downtrodden, and married to a man named Denny, who disapproves of her attending the course. It is established early on that Rita isn't in fact her real name (her real name being Susan) and that as a symbol of her attempting to change herself, she has adopted the name of her current favourite author. The play takes place entirely in the office of her tutor, Frank over a period of time. Frank is a middle-aged world-weary English professor at a local university and is immediately established as somewhat fond of drink, hiding bottles of whiskey behind the works of various authors and going to the pub as soon as he can, much to the chagrin of his partner, Julia.

Frank is initially reluctant to take on the responsibility of tutoring Rita, only doing so because he needs the money, but he warms to Rita as they begin to discuss writers and ways of approaching and understanding literature. Rita tells Frank of her reasons for taking on the course, that she realises that the way most people try to change themselves or deal with the monotony of life is to "buy a new dress", but that is some way seems inadequate to her. In her work as a hairdresser, Rita encounters people who want to change all the time, but only on the outside and even then, they expect her to do the work. Rita realises that the best way to change is from within and that the best way to achieve this change is through education.

Fairly early in the course, Rita is told the difference between writing from the heart and the sort of detached, objective writing that will get her a good exam result. In response to a past-exam question on how to tackle the difficulties of staging of Peer Gynt, she responds with a poignant yet dismissive one-line answer; that they should do it on the radio. On the advice of Frank, she later crafts this into a more considered paragraph. Frank explains that whilst this and other later essays are worthy in their own right, they will not carry much weight for the examiners. He iterates the difference between objective, referenced academic writing and a more subjective, opinionated and emotional style. Whilst this is not a difference that she fully understands at first, it does eventually sink in when she is asked the very same Peer Gynt question in her final exam and she realises that she finally has a choice; whether to answer subjectively and risk failing or objectively and pass the exam.

Rita's friends and family, particularly her husband Denny, can't understand or relate to the changes Rita goes through throughout the play and she finds herself growing increasingly alienated from them. At one point, when she has been invited to a dinner party at Frank and Julia's house, she comments that she neither feels part of her old world of sing-songs in the pub, nor a part of Frank's world which she longs to belong. At this point she even considers giving up the course. Rita says to Frank that she feels as if the people she comes from have no culture, just a life of distraction and consumerism, whether that consumption is of clothes, drink or drugs. She also notes that whilst all may appear to be well as they were singing along to the jukebox in the pub, Rita caught her mother crying. When asked why, her mother said that there were other, better songs to sing. This echoes the longing in Rita to find her own better song to sing as she attempts to improve herself.

At a crucial point, Denny finds out that Rita has been lying to him about taking the pill, thinking that she hasn't been taking it when actually she has. In anger, he burns her books and an essay she's been working on. Rita subequently leaves Denny and moves in with a fellow student, Trish, and leaves her hairdressing job to work in a bistro.

As the course progresses and Rita attends a summer school, her confidence grows. She begins to meet and have passionate discussions about art and literature with fellow students, something she barely thought possible when she began the course. Frank seemingly becomes jealous of this and his drinking worsens, much to Rita's dismay. A crucial point comes when Frank has returned from a holiday in France and brings Rita back a large pack of cigarettes, only to be told that she has given them up. Frank's drinking worsens even more, to the point where he is caught drunk during a lecture and is pushed into taking a sabbatical. He shrugs it off but Rita is very disappointed in him, and begins to miss tutoring sessions and tells him less and less about her life. She says these are just unimportant trivialities but Frank tells her that literature and theory is not everything and fears that Rita may be losing her individual voice in her attempts to please the examiners. Rita assures him that this is alright and that it is an acceptable part of her transformation.

Frank's drinking continues and although he is not fired, he is now pushed into working at a college in Australia, as part of his enforced sabbatical. He and Rita by this point appear to have made peace with each other and Rita passes her exam but seems unsure as to what she will do with the rest of her life, although her options are many. She suggests going with Frank to Australia but this does not seem likely. They say their farewells and as a final thank you for his tutoring her, Rita gives Frank a much needed new haircut.

Plays 52 - A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller

13. A View From The Bridge - Arthur Miller

A View From The Bridge is the tragic tale of a close Brooklyn family, told through the narration of Alfieri, an Italian lawyer friend of Eddie Carbone, the head of the family. Eddie is a dock worker and he and his wife Beatrice have been caring for their niece, Katherine, since her mother died. They are both very fond of her and Eddie is very protective and wants her to have a good life and better herself. Katherine has been training to be a typist and has been hand-picked to work as a stenographer at a large nearby plumbers office. Eddie is at first appalled, hoping for better things for Katherine, yet he ultimately relents when Beatrice tells him what an honour this is for Katherine, being picked out in front of the whole class as the best student.

The family are expecting Beatrice's cousins, illegal immigrants from Sicily, to arrive later that night. Eddie is initially glad to help and baulks at a story of a man who betrayed his family to the immigration authorities. The brothers, Marco and Rudolpho arrive and are both very grateful, telling Eddie, Beatrice and Katherine about life in Sicily and how they have to take whatever work comes their way. They paint a picture of a very rural way of life, a contrast to the life that now faces them in Brooklyn. The attraction between Katherine and Rudolpho is apparent straight away, and she swoons at his blond hair. Marco quips that this is a throwback to the days when the Danish invaded Sicily.

As Rudolpho and Katherine begin to see more of each other, it becomes clear that romance is blossoming, much to Eddie's dismay. He begins to criticise Rudolpho and his mannerisms, his skill as a singer and the fact that he seems to be behaving in a way that might get him noticed by the authorities. Eddie also questions Rudolpho's motives, believing that he only wants Katherine so that he can get citizenship if they marry. He cites Rudolpho's spendthrift behaviour as evidence of this, whereby Marco sends virtually all his money back to his wife and children in Sicily.

However, as he talks to both Beatrice and Alfieri about this, his protectiveness becomes more desperate and slightly disturbing. As Alfieri tells Eddie that there's nothing in the law that says that Katherine and Rudolpho shouldn't be together, and that Eddie's feeling that Rudolpho "just ain't right" has no basis in fact, and the only legal matter at hand is the manner in which the two brothers entered America. Beatrice later confides in Katherine, revealing to her the concerns she has regarding her relationship with Eddie. She is worried that at 18, Katherine behaves and dresses inappropriately around him, reminding her that she is now a young woman. Implicit in this is that she may be inadvertently stirring sexual feelings in Eddie, and she insists she is not jealous, and that she is genuinely concerned that their attachment to each other may not be healthy for all three of them.

A while later, the tension between Eddie, Marco and Rudolpho is manifested as Eddie tries to teach Rudolpho how to fight. Calling Rudolpho "Danish", mockingly due to his blond hair, Eddie knocks him down, only for Marco turns the tables on him by challenging him. He asks him to lift a chair in an awkward manner, which proves impossible for Eddie, yet Marco does it with ease, gloating triumphantly as he does so. It transpires that Katherine and Rudolpho are to be married. Katherine brings up the possibility of moving to Italy, but Rudolpho says he is unwilling to do since he wants a better life both for himself and the both of them; he wants to be married to Katherine, but as an American.

Eddie returns to appeal to Alfieri, who once again and more insistently this time, warns him to allow Katherine to live her life. However, in an act of desperation brought about by his feelings of powerlessness, he calls the immigration authorities. Back at home, Beatrice later tells Eddie that she has moved Marco and Rudolpho into another room nearby, and that Katherine and Rudolpho are going to marry as soon as possible so that Rudolpho can become a legal citizen. Eddie attempts to persuade Katherine to go out more and try to meet other men, but Katherine is resolute. This makes Eddie begin to panic about calling the authorities. This panic is made worse by the news that Marco and Rudolpho are now living with other illegal immigrants, with strong family connections, from which Eddie fears some retribution. He resolves to warn them to get out but it's too late and the authorities arrive to take them away. Marco, in a rage, blames Eddie and claims he has effectively killed his children. Eddie tries to deny what he's done but Katherine and Beatrice realise that it was he who notified the authorities.

Some time later, Alfieri informs Rudolpho that he will be able to remain in America if he and Katherine are married, however Marco will be sent back to Sicily. Desperate for the situation to be resolved as amicably as is possible, Katherine, Beatrice and Rudolpho plead with both Eddie and Marco to apologise to each other, yet neither of them back down. Seemingly accepting parole so that he may at least continue to earn money until he is deported, Marco is now released but to the horror of Katherine, Beatrice and Rudolpho, he confronts Eddie in the street. They both stand firm in demanding respect from the other but then they fight and in the tussle, Eddie is stabbed and killed by Marco. Alfieri finishes by musing on what has happened and states his belief that sometimes it is better to "settle for half".