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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW How you can conserve water at home ... Stouts fire burns 15,000 acres and counting ... 'Mitigation banking' ... How you can conserve water at home ... Stouts fire burns 15,000 acres and counting ... 'Mitigation banking' ... REVIEW Review: Education and its discontents Comment By Bill Varble MailTribune.com By Bill Varble Posted Mar. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Bill Varble Posted Mar. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News The premise that puts juice in the clash between Will Russell's characters in "Educating Rita" is that the outlook of each is the negation of the other. What working-class Rita wants — the sophistication of a traditional English university liberal education — is precisely what Frank, the professor, has come to despise. And what he wants — authenticity, real relationships — Rita already has. In the production of the 1980 comic drama that Next Stage Repertory Company opened Thursday night at the Craterian in downtown Medford, directed by Doug Warner, it's a stretch to believe Rita's arc. Rita (Stephanie Jones), whose name is really Susan, is a married, childless, 20-something hairdresser from Liverpool chafing at the routines of lower-class life — mindless work, a husband who expects meat on the table, in-laws who expect grandchildren, and a pint and a song at the pub after work on Friday at best. She suspects an Open University course in English Literature will be the ticket to a new, cultured world. That sets up her encounter with Frank (Will Churchill), a middle-aged, alcoholic burnout who has taken on the tutoring gig to pay for the whiskey he stashes behind the books lining his walls. Susan, thick as a brick, finds her mind opening to a new world of ideas, including the notion that the limitations of her life aren't as absolute as they seem. A spunky but utterly clueless Rita demands to know “everything,” and instead of confronting bigger challenges amid rising action, she mainly gets a lot of whining from Frank, who has an annoying habit of ending his sentences with a patronizing, “hum?” With its themes of social class, personal growth and high versus low culture, the play derives from George Bernard Shaw's “Pygmalion," which also begat "My Fair Lady." A young woman "improves" herself, and her male mentor winds up dissatisfied with the “success.” The twist, which takes about 90 minutes to come into focus, is that as Frank is impressed by Susan's relish for life, he finds himself re-examining his own depressing life (the play could have been called "Educating Rita and Frank"). As she begins adopting the assumptions of a system he loathes, he fears her originality will be stamped out. And she, disillusioned by a friend's suicide attempt, does not quite grasp that her “new” life — she may be meeting a young man of the educated classes in the south of France for holiday — is perhaps riddled with some of the same dishonesty and superficiality she was trying to escape. “Educating Rita” has a slight something to say and takes a long time to say it. Reach freelance writer Bill Varble at [email protected]. By Bill Varble MailTribune.com By Bill Varble Posted Mar. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501