EDUCATING RITA Opens 10/1 at Little Fish Theatre

Little Fish Theatre today announced the opening of EDUCATING RITA, the highly acclaimed and popular play about personal growth and the life-long nature of learning, written by British dramatist Willy Russell.

A hairdresser, determined to learn "everything there is to know", is paired with a jaded and burned-out professor of literature for tutoring. Over the course of their relationship, they learn more than either expected. The play was the basis of a movie in 1963; and the script earned Russell an Academy Award nomination.

The curmudgeonly professor is played by David Graham, who has been featured in numerous Little Fish productions, including LOOKING, THE WEIR and UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL in recent seasons. The opinionated and naïve hairdresser is played by Rebecca Reaney, who is new to the Little Fish stage.

"This is a wonderfully heartwarming play," notes director James Rice. "The relationship between these two very different souls develops before our eyes, and the result is life-affirming and hilarious." Rice directed the uproariously funny MAMA WON'T FLY at Little Fish Theatre this season.

EDUCATING RITA will open Wednesday, October 1, and will run Wednesdays and Thursdays through October 23. A Sunday matinee is scheduled for 2pm on October 19, after which the creative team will be available for 10 to 15 minutes for post-show discussion with the audience.

Founded in 2002, Little Fish Theatre presents classic and contemporary plays in an intimate setting on Centre Street in downtown San Pedro. Producing eleven plays each year for a one-room 65-seat venue, Little Fish delivers the quintessential close-up theatrical experience, where audience and performers share space and sight-lines, making for eruptive laughter, highly-charged action and palpable emotion.