| Description | Material relating to the stage production and the film version of Educating Rita.
The stage production of Educating Rita was commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company and first performed in the Warehouse Theatre, London in June, 1980. In September 1980 it transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End where it ran for two and a half years. The play was directed by Mike Ockrent and starred Mark Kingston and Julie Walters. Educating Rita was produced at the Liverpool Playhouse in February 1981, and has since been produced again in London, on multiple national tours, and around the world including nearly every country in Europe, in Australia, Japan and the USA. It won the SWET award for Best Comedy, and its cast has since included Zoe Gonord, Kate Fitzgerald, Julie Deakin and Shirin Taylor.
The film version of Educating Rita premiered in 1983, made by Acorn Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert and starred Julie Walters and Michael Caine. Additional cast members were Michael Williams, Maureen Lipman, Jeanne Crowley and Malcolm Douglas. The screenplay was written by Willy Russell and the scenes set in a University were filmed in Trinity College, Dublin. The film won Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film at The BAFTAS, Best Actor and Best Actress at the Golden Globes, and was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Actor & Best Actress.
The series includes the following material relating to the stage production: manuscripts, programmes, publicity and media material, correspondence and legal and financial documents. It features multiple draft manuscripts, each amended and altered, a varied set of programmes from productions around the world in multiple languages, reviews for productions from the 1980s to the 2000s, correspondence which also relates to multiple productions including the original production commissioned by the RSC, contracts, royalty payments and invoices. This material was created by Willy Russell, or in the course of processes relating to the production of works by Willy Russell. The item level catalogue descriptions refer to a single individual item, unless otherwise stated in the notes field.
The series includes the following material relating to the film version: manuscripts, programmes, correspondence, publicity and media material, and legal and contractual documents. It includes BAFTA and Academy Award programmes, drafts of the screenplay, multiple reviews and advertisements and correspondence.
This material was created by Willy Russell, or in the course of processes relating to the production of works by Willy Russell. |