OPINION 'It's not the past I miss but communities with a future'
IN Willy Russell’s play, Rita is a married hair stylist in her twenties who wants to return to education. She enrols at the Open University, where she is tutored by Frank, an alcoholic professor whose marriage has broken down but whose love of teaching is rekindled by Rita’s enthusiasm for learning. But when Rita’s husband learns that his wife is more interested in education than homemaking, he becomes frustrated by her independence. What makes the play and film very much of its time is that Rita is able to leave an oppressive domestic environment and flat share.
Source: morningstaronline.co.uk