WHAT: EDUCATING RITA
WHERE: HUNTINGTON’S MAIN STAGE
WHEN: Through– April 10, 2011
WHERE: Huntington’s main stage, the Boston University Theatre – 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
TICKETS:
BUZZ:
Huntington Theatre Company kicks off its spring of comedy with Educating Rita by Willy
Russell (Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers), welcoming back celebrated British director Maria Aitken. For the
Huntington, Aitken last staged the pre-Broadway, Tony Award-winning American premiere of Alfred
Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. In Educating Rita Andrew Long (The Misanthrope Off Broadway) plays Frank and
Jane Pfitsch (Company, John Doyle’s Broadway revival) plays Rita. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New
Comedy, Educating Rita was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, premiered in London in the
summer of 1980, and was adapted into a film in 1983, which starred Julie Walters and Sir Michael Caine.
In Educating Rita, Rita, a brash, young hairdresser with a free spirit, is hungry to improve her lot in life. When
she enrolls at the local university; she discovers a passion for literature and turns her boozy and burnt-out
Professor’s life upside down in this award-winning comedy.
“I am so happy to be returning to the Huntington with Educating Rita, a showcase for the actors and a quirky
homage to the Pygmalion story,” says Aitken. “If you think you saw it when you saw the film, think again.”