Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Out of Joint, Octagon Theatre Bolton and the Royal Court Theatre
Best friends Rita and Sue get a lift home from married Bob after babysitting his kids. When he takes the scenic route and offers them a bit of fun, the three start a fling they each think they control.
Andrea Dunbar wrote her semi-autobiographical play when she was just 19. It’s an explosive portrait of girls facing an unpromising future, offered a taste of adult adventure.
Celebrated for its wickedly funny dialogue and startling insight, Rita, Sue and Bob Too became a hit film in the 1980s Now, a crack cast including James Atherton (Hollyoaks, Coronation Street) and Taj Atwal (BBC1’s In the Club; Sky 1’s Stella; East is East in the West End) reclaim this masterpiece for the stage.
-
DATES
Date Time Information 13 Feb 7.30pm Post-show Discussion 14 Feb 7.30pm 15 Feb 7.30pm 16 Feb 7.30pm 17 Feb 2.30pm 17 Feb 7.30pm Captioned
-
Cast & Creative Team
Creative
Writer - Andrea Dunbar
Director - Kate Wasserberg
Designer - Tim Shortall
Lighting Designer - Jason Taylor
Sound Designer - Emma LaxtonCast
James Atherton
Taj Atwal
Sally Bankes
Gemma Dobson
Samantha Robinson
David Walker
Reviews
"Dunbar’s play is a template for everything from This is England through to Shameless"
- The Herald
"Bracingly uncensored and often very funny… And one of the real virtues of this revival is that it does not go in for sermonising hindsight but lets this very good play speak for itself. Strongly recommended.”
- The Independent
“This is a great production, riveting… A fine piece of work, a blast of real life”
- The Times
"A bleak and brilliant testament to a life of fleeting pleasure and diminished expectations"
- The Guardian
“Kate Wasserberg’s terrific production… One comes away newly saddened at Dunbar’s too-short life yet grateful to have a chance to experience a timeless talent.”
- The Arts Desk
“This is a cherishably vivid 1982 bulletin from the mischievous and vibrant Andrea Dunbar… Lively and splendidly acted”
- London Evening Standard
“Seeing this remarkable play provides accurate, bleak and pertinent context for the history of relationships between men and women. It needs to be heard now just as much as ever.”
- Whatsonstage
“Frank, non-judgemental and often surprisingly funny… The cast are fantastic”
- Everything Theatre
"A timely revival of Andrea Dunbar’s lively and still-shocking coming of age play"
- The Stage
"The performances are universally impressive… A short sharp shock of a play with plenty to amuse, entertain and make you think"
- British Theatre Guide
Press
"It’s about the strength of the friendship between these two girls in the way that all of Andrea’s work was about friendship, so when you see it performed onstage there’s a real poignancy to it.”
Director Kate Wasserberg and writer Adelle Stripe talk to Neil Cooper in The Herald
"It’s savage, funny, and clever, and it has a much more complicated, downbeat ending about the women on the estate, and how, in the end, it’s always down to them to pick up the pieces, and carry on."
Kate Wasserberg in the The Scotsman