A Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch production
Willy Russell’s timeless and inspirational comedy.
Whisky-loving Open University professor Frank Bryant is expected to teach when the pubs are open – much to his disgust. So when gobby hairdresser Rita bursts into his book lined study insisting that Frank becomes her assigned tutor, he grudgingly accepts the challenge. Rita may think Yeats is a wine lodge but she also believes that literature could offer her a way out of the rut she’s in.
Slowly, Frank realises that this enthusiastic working-class student has much to teach him too – making him question his work and his very being in the process. This iconic, hilarious and touching play won an Olivier Award in 1980 and remains as brilliant and relevant as ever. Rita’s personal and academic evolution is a joy to witness, with a resolution as unexpected as it is full of promise.
Originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980, Willy Russell’s Educating Rita ran for over two years in the West End and won the Society of West End Theatres award for Best Comedy. It subsequently became a BAFTA award-winning film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.
For the first time in Queen’s Theatre history, you’ll be able to get up close to the action as we will be extending the stage into the auditorium to offer a truly unique and intimate setting. With limited seating on the stage in our usual comfortable auditorium seats, it’s a viewing experience not to be missed!
Age guidance 12+
Contains some strong language
Mon, Tue & Wed | 7.30pm || Thu, Fri & Sat | 8pm
Previews | £12.50 | £16 | £19
no concessions available
Mon - Thu Eve, & Matinees | £18.00 | £22.50 | £26 concessions and discounts available
Fri & Sat eve | £21.50 | £26 | £29
Friday group discount available
Thu 27 Apr | 2pm
Matinee Club free pre-show talk
Wed 3 May | Talk Back | free
An opportunity for audiences to question the cast and creative team after the performance.
120 minutes
20 minutes
Main House
Ruairi Conaghan
Frank
Theatre: Hamlet (Barbican)’Easter Rising and Thereafter ( Jermyn St West End )The Bombing of the Grand Hotel (Cockpit Theatre/Brighton Festival) Theatre Uncut (UK tour) All That Fall (Jermyn st/ West End/59e59 New York) Molly Sweeney (The Print Room, Lyric Theatre Belfast) Truth and Reconciliation, Trust (Royal Court) Philadelphia, Here I come (Donmar Warehouse) Scenes From The Big Picture, Peer Gynt (National Theatre) I Like Mine With a Kiss (Bush Theatre) Factory Girls (Arcola Theatre) The Crucible, White Star of the North, Philadelphia Here I Come, Tearing the Loom, Midsummer Nights Dream, Put out That Light (Lyric Theatre Belfast) Elegies, Green Orange and Pink (Kings Head, West End) A Thousand Yard Stare (Southwark Playhouse) Kitty and Damnation (Lion and Unicorn) Port Authority, Othello, School for Scandal, Fall from Grace (Liverpool Everyman) Someone To Watch Over Me (Theatre Royal Northampton) Rough Justice, Ruffian On The Stair, Box (Northcott Exeter) Across The Barricades (New Victoria Stoke) Blood Sweat and Tears (Big Telly) That Driving Ambition, Sinking (Replay. )
TV/Film: Hamlet (NT Live) Downton Abbey (ITV) The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher, (ITV) Best: His Mothers Son, Murphys law (BBC NI) Waking the Dead, Silent Witness, Supergrass, The Catherine Tate Show, Doctors, All Things Bright and Beautiful (BBC) The Bill (Thames) Wreckers, Walk With me, (Channel 4) An Officer From France (RTE).
Radio: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, The man from God Knows where, An Angel At my table, Juno and The Paycock.
Ruairi was nominated for a Sunday Times TMA Best Supporting Actor for Philadelphia Here I Come!
Danielle Flett
Rita
Danielle trained at Rose Bruford College.
Theatre credits include: The Monkey (Theatre 503), Much Ado About Nothing (Mercury Theatre, Colchester), Doctor Faustus (Duke of Yorks) Hatched ‘n’ Dispatched (Park Theatre), Noises Off (Old Vic UK tour), Vera, Vera, Vera (Royal Court and Theatre Local Peckham), Burnt Oak (Leicester Square Theatre), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Unicorn Theatre).
Television credits Include: White Gold (BBC), Silent Witness (BBC), Top Boy (Channel 4), Lewis (ITV).
Director | Rosalind Philips |
Designer | Polly Sullivan |
Lighting Designer | Sally Ferguson |
Sound Designer | Ben Collins |