Never Underestimate the Value of a Good Education (Rita’s in the Pink, and Frank needs another drink)
Sardines possibly conducted the last interview that Stephen Tompkinson and Jessica Johnson did before the all-encompassing Coronavirus crisis meant their tour was swiftly cut short.
We sat down with the pair (at a much bigger distance than usual) in Guildford after their matinee performance on 12 March... and the next day everything changed.
However, with Willy Russell’s Educating Rita being such a seminal play, as well as extremely popular with amateur companies, we thought you may still want to read our conversation. Here it is...
How is your return to Educating Rita and the touring 40th anniversary production going?
ST: “We did it last year for eighteen dates. Then, we realised this year marks the fortieth anniversary and we were asked to do more. It’s very hard to resist when you have such a security net in Willy Russell’s beautiful play. It’s actually all her fault…”
JJ: “…Yes it is; all my fault. I’ve done Rita before – in a different production in a different theatre – and me and Stephen crossed paths while rehearsing for different things. Over a pint we started talking about Rita, and I said how I’d love a longer run at it, having only done it for a week. I told him that actually he’d make a really good Frank, so he went away, read the script and, after shockingly realising he was the right age, it all came about from there. Ha ha!”
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Blood BrothersCentralCoronavirusCovid-19Educating RitaFrankJessica JohnsonJulie WaltersMichael CainePygmalionRitaShirley ValentineStephen TompkinsonWilly Russell
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