Bench: Educating Rita

Rita is 26 years old, with a dull job, a dull husband, no qualifications and no prospects. But there must be more, and wouldn't an education be the answer? So she signs up for an Open University course in English Literature. There she meets Frank, her 50-something washed-up and disillusioned tutor. She is taken by what she thinks is his wisdom, he by her vivacity and enthusiasm – could she be the answer to his cynical loneliness?

Rita (real name Susan) discovers that yes, education opens doors, but it also closes them. Her husband rejects her and her 'stupid' education, and she couldn't go back to her old life even if she wanted to. But the life she finds on the other side of the door, with its pretensions and competitiveness, isn't really what she dreamt about.

With its serious ideas about class and education, this is still a comedy. The growing relationship between Rita and Frank is full of wit and sparkle, as her initial naivety develops into something more sophisticated that challenges Frank to rise to the occasion. Full of warmth and humanity, it is a fresh and relevant know as when it was first performed in 1980.