You would be very well advised to ask why, as Frank is, in some ways, absolutely not the lecturer I wish to become – the dipsomania is the most obvious off-putting factor, not to mention the arrogance, the misanthropy and the general disdain for humanity. I think I may just have started my own start of year ritual with watching Educating Rita. The THE article mentioned lecturers who have rituals for first classes – playing a particular piece of music beforehand, wearing lucky socks, a specific activity they set students. (There’s also a wonderful cameo by Maureen Lipman, but I shan’t fangirl.) I use non-traditional to describe Rita not just because it’s a more appropriate word to describe students than ‘mature’, but also because at the start of the film Rita isn’t mature – part of the whole point is the slow maturation process that she goes through, and the conflict this causes for Frank as he sees her ‘getting an education’ and cheerfully (and gratefully) discarding most of the things that made her, to him, an interesting and unique student in the first place. Said film was Educating Rita (1983), adapted by Willy Russell from his 1980 play, starring Michael Caine as the English lecturer Frank and Julie Walters as Rita (real name Susan) as a non-traditional student who has decided to take her degree via the Open University. I was considering writing a blog post recording my emotions about a new term (which, for the record, are torn between not being able to wait to get back into the classroom after two years out of it, and the inevitable first day nerves of starting a new job at a new institution where you’re still learning the ropes), but then I got my next DVD from Lovefilm through the post and settled down to watch it. This production is both hilarious and heartbreaking, leaving the audience wanting more from the characters and, on the opening night, earning the actors a much-deserved standing ovation.Last week’s Times Higher Education magazine included quite an interesting article on how members of academic staff feel about the start of a new term emotions recorded include fear, panic, nightmares, trepidation and the whole gamut of angst that you would expect, as well as the more positive emotions like enthusiasm for new teaching and the opportunity to meet and engage with a new group of students. While this production is set firmly in the early eighties of its origin, the gap between the working-class Rita’s yearning for better and Frank’s middle-class, educated complacency is as relevant today as it was when the play was first staged.

Willy Russell’s play has very much stood the test of time. Johnson, as Rita, was captivating, never still, full of life, energy and enthusiasm, while Tompkinson captured the simultaneous arrogance and vulnerability of the disillusioned, ageing professor with quiet conviction. But from the moment the lights came up on Frank’s tutorial room – a compelling set that made you want to jump on-stage and have a browse through his book collection! – Stephen Tompkinson and Jessica Johnson fully embodied the characters. With a play that’s been adapted into such a well-known film, there’s always a worry that you won’t be able to get the film’s stars out of your mind, and will be comparing them to the actors in front of you. And this is exactly what Educating Rita at Cambridge Arts Theatre achieves it’s completely immersive, so much so that when it ends, and the two actors take their bows, it’s almost a shock to the system to realise that our window into their world has closed. The best theatre draws you in, making you feel as if you’re right there with the characters on stage, experiencing everything that they’re going through and feeling their emotions directly. Siobhan Godwood reviews the opening night of Willy Russell’s play

Film review educating rita