About the Writer Willy Russell William Russell was born in Whiston - just outside Liverpool, in 1947. At primary school he enjoyed reading, football and gardening, these were the only subjects he likes, but at secondary school he was consigned to the factory fodder D stream. It was in this surprising environment that he conceived the idea of being a writer. His only experience of factory work caused him to fail to obtain a printing apprenticeship, so his mother suggested he trained to
Educating Rita by Willy Russell "Educating Rita", is a two-handed play which only has two characters and one set. "Educating Rita" was written in 1985 by Willy Russell, it looks at how the relationship between two people, Rita and Frank, develops as the play goes on. "Educating Rita" is the story of Rita, a hairdresser who decides to go to University in order to discover who she really is. When she arrives at University she meets Frank, a lazy alcoholic who doesn't really care about being
Educating Rita by Willy Russell Educating Rita is a play written by Willy Russell. It is about a woman called Rita who feels her life is not fulfilled so she goes to Frank who works at an Open University to tutor her. Rita has a husband called Denny. He is working class and has never been to university, like Rita before she goes to she Frank. Frank on the other hand is a lecturer of literature but does not have everything. He is unhappy at home and is often drunk at his tutorials. The
Our Day Out by Willy Russell The play "Our Day Out" in based around the remedial class of an inner city Liverpool comprehensive. The children are the bottoms of the heap; they are not blessed with a well off families to support them. The two main teachers are Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs who views contrast and contradict each other throughout the play. On this particular day the "remedial class" are of on a school trip hence the title "Our Day Out" to Conway castle in Wales though this is not the only
The Portrayal of Metamorphosis in Educating Rita by Willy Russell In this essay, I am going to discuss the portrayal of metamorphosis in Willy Russell’s ‘Educating Rita.’ I am going to write about how the play’s two round characters, Frank and Rita, change their attitudes, confidence, lifestyle, appearance and their overall look on life throughout the course of the play. To do this, I will analyse Frank and Rita at the start of the play and then go on to comment on how they change from
Comedy in Our Day Out by Russell In this assignment I am going to look at the ways in which Willy Russell has created humour within the play 'Our Day Out'. I will pay particular attention to the characters, their dialogue and the events that take place Willy Russell was born in a town near Liverpool, he left school at fifteen with no idea what he wanted to do and nothing but an O'level in English. 'Our Day Out', 'Blood Brothers' and 'Educating Rita' are a reflection of Russell's own
These experiences are not depended on the individual’s personal backgrounds or social statuses. According to Jane Thompson, a scholar in education, the process of education can either be a restriction on creativity or a “practice of freedom.” In Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, the protagonist’s experience through the Open University is a practice of freedom as she is provided with the opportunities to express her thoughts and discover her own limits. There is an internal struggle within Rita as
Educating Rita Educating Rita is a story written by Willy Russell. He was born in Whiston, which is just outside Liverpool. When he was five his mum and dad moved to Knowsley, on an estate full of Liverpudlians who taught him how to talk properly. It is about two main characters Rita and Frank. Rita is a literature student at the Open University. This is a university that is used as a way of enabling adult students, like Rita. Frank is a tutor at the Open University but unlike the normal
Response To Blood Brothers By Willy Russell Response Phase The appreciation to the story Willy Russell wrote a fantastic and well written play called “Blood Brothers” it shows details of its time and history such as the government ruled by Margaret Thatcher and the economic crash. The rough times in Liverpool and the struggle for money. “Blood Brothers which is set in Liverpool tells a story of twins born on the same day and died on the same day but separated at birth. Mrs. Johnstone
A major theme in ‘Our Day Out’ is the lack of education and opportunity for young people in the inner city. Using scenes from the play, show how Willy Russell makes the audience aware of this theme. Introduction. The play that I am writing about is called ‘Our Day Out’ and it was written by Willy Russell. The main theme of the play is to tell the reader what life was like for people (mainly children) in Liverpool in the 1970s and what their education was like. During the 1970s 100 000 jobs were
In this essay I am going to compare the characters of Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs form Our Day Out by Willy Russell, where under privileged children from Liverpool are taken on a school trip to Wales and we see two very different styles of teaching. Mrs Kay is the teacher of the progress class and the children really like her; Rielly to Mrs Kay ‘You’re ace miss.’ She is in her early forties and greatly values the children and her job. However she is not very harsh on discipline and only has one rule
The Effect of Summer School on Rita in Educating Rita by Willy Russell 'Of course; you don't do Blake without doing innocence and experience, do y?' When Frank explains to Rita that after summer school they will study William Blake, Rita says that she has already studied Blake and implies in such a way that she almost disgraces Frank. Before summer school Rita has only been taught Frank and has only learnt his ideas, when she gains her own confidence she then challenges Frank on his views
Rita is constantly battling this set image of a typical Woman in the 80s. Willy Russell has used many dramatic devices efficiently to show the different phases and changes in Rita. In so doing, there have been many impacts on the audience. In Act 1, Willy Russell introduces the main characters, Rita and Frank; and provides crucial background information about the characters and their relationship with each other. Russell introduces some of the main themes of the play such as; journey of discovery
The Ways in Which Willy Russell Develops the Characters of Rita and Frank in his Play Educating Rita In my essay I shall write an analysis to 'discuss the ways in which Willy Russell develops the characters of 'Rita' and 'Frank' in his play 'Educating Rita'. This play is a 20th Century play and was set in the 1980's. The plays write Willy Russell has also written many other famous plays such as: - 'Blood Brothers', 'Our day out' and 'Shirley Valentine. He is also well known for writing plays
Blood Brothers is about two twins separated at birth, into an Upper class family and a lower class family. The Twins eventually find out they are twins when it is too late. Their separation is used to good dramatic effect to keep the audience in suspense for what’s to come. When you are of a lower class you tend to be superstitious. For example, because of the little opportunities and low fortune a person of a lower class has they tend to believe in fate and bad luck. This is a dominant theme which
How does Willy Russell establish the differences between Frank and Rita in act one scene one of “Educating Rita”? In the play “Educating Rita”, Willy Russell presents us with the idea of two completely different people: Rita, who is a working class, uneducated, hairdresser and Frank, a drunken university professor, who is bored with his life. In the play the two characters are shown to have very different lives and backgrounds. Frank uses alcohol to escape from his life and his job, whereas Rita
Opening Scene of Educating Rita Explore the ways in which Russell engages the audiences interest in the main characters and themes in the opening scene of Educating Rita and explain whether you think the play written in 1979 is still relevant to 2005. Willy Russell’s play, Educating Rita, written in 1979, is a story about a typical lower class woman called Rita who decides she wants to lead an ‘educated life’ and she tries to do this by getting a private tutor called Frank to teach her
The Character of Rita in Educating Rita In the play of Educating Rita, which is written by Willy Russell, there is a student aged twenty-six years old who is a hairdresser and also is a working class called Rita. Rita lives with her husband called Denny however Rita and Denny love each other so very much. Denny wants Rita to have a baby but Rita is on a pill to stop from having a baby, but Denny does not know about it, but then finds out later in the play. Rita wants to explore herself and
it by her self all along it just took Rita a while to realise it. Willy Russell shows us that working class people think that everyone else is better than them and that they are not worthy of an education. They also think everyone else is looking down at them. He makes Rita explain this on page 68 when she says, “ just because you pass a pub doorway an’ hear the singin’ you think we’re all OK”. I think Willy Russell takes education so seriously because he wants people to understand how
The Power of the Single Set in Educating Rita There are obvious financial and logistical reasons for making Educating Rita a two-handed play, but Willy Russell does far more with this format than simply save money on actors and sets. The play is essentially about the impact of education on the lives of two people and it therefore does not need to distract the audience with Rita and Frank's other relationships and concerns. The depth and intensity of Rita and Frank's relationship