Educating Rita
Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Until 25 July
Box Office: 01243 781312
www.cft.org.uk

Picture credit: Manuel Harlan

In her quest for choice and betterment would Liverpudlian hairdresser Rita throw herself into an Open University degree course today? Nah. More likely that she would develop an app for stylists.

Written and set in the early 80s (and with more than a little doffing of its hat at Shaw’s Pygmalion), what Willy Russell’s play lacks in modern relevance is more than compensated for in the performances of Lenny Henry and Lashana Lynch.

As Frank, the disillusioned tutor and one-time poet whose career is now just a means of funding his drinking, Henry could be a shade more embittered. But visibly relaxing into the second act, first night nerves squarely dealt with, he hits his stride.

Frank’s passion for teaching is reignited when Rita explodes into his office with a desperate thirst to learn. His feelings for her grow fonder and when he realises that she has all but achieved her dream of being educated the ensuing bender upon which he embarks is not inspired by a wish to toast her success. Beautifully pitched by Henry, who is well paired with his co-star – their chemistry gives the production a palpable boost – the final scenes are especially touching.

Lashana Lynch is on track for Big Things. Exuberant, warm, funny, ambitious, determined and childlike in her wonder of academia, Lynch manages to convey it all, stealing the hearts of the audience while she’s about it. A two-hander is a huge mountain for any actor to scale but Lynch makes it look effortless.

Not so the transitions from scene to scene. Limited to a point by both script and Ellen Cairns’ bookshelf-lined set, Rita’s arrival to each tutorial at the start of each new scene is clunky.

But this is a minor grip and overall this production, in educational terms, falls only slightly short of getting a First.