IF any actors deserve Oscar awards, then Elizabeth O'Hara and Martin Holtom should be at the top of the nominating list. They certainly brought the two characters to life when they appeared at the Duchess Theatre last week in Willy Russell's play Educating Rita. They both gave outstanding performances. 

Frank (Martin) was a hard drinking, sarcastic lecturer from the Proper University. While Rita (Liz) was a young uneducated woman, who wanted to improve her life through education. 

To say Frank was amazed when she burst in on him would be an understatement. He was gobsmacked. However did she manage to enrole on an Open University English course? Not only that, get him as her tutor! For Rita was a loud mouthed, swearing, smoking Scouser. Liz's handling of Rita, with the Liverpool accent was perfection, cuz she nevihh gorra single waird wrong. Her portrayal of the bored, frustrated, hurr dresser was sheer brilliance.

Frank didn't quite know how to set about teaching her. She was in her eyes hopeless, she'd never learn and so told her to go back to her hairdressing job, be happy and leave him to mope and drink. Again a performance to die for by Martin. But he hadn't counted on Rita's determination. 

Throughout the play, there were many scene changes to denote the passing of time the props and people were excellent. They moved around in a semi-dark stage efficiently and quietly. Well done. 

One day Rita arrived believing her education was at last getting somewhere, when she spoke, she sounded like Eliza Doolittle, on a bad day, each word pronounced extra carefully and correctly.... more or less.

This of course, drove Frank to distraction so thankfully she reverted back to Scouse.

Rita, as Frank said she would, passes her exams with flying colours. Frank however has slipped into self pitying and doubt, not to mention drinking. He decided to tell Rita, that during a lecture he was giving, he'd fallen off the rostrum several times, because he was so drunk and now he was being sent to Australia for two years to try to get his life back together.

"Oh cum 'ere an' sit down, cuz I'm gunna mek yew luk ten years younger' and immediately starts cutting his hair. Curtains. 

Director Paul Norris deserves congratulating, for as well as this being a first class production, it was his first time in the director's chair. 

By June Barker