IT is 35 years since Willy Russell's Educating Rita was first staged.

To mark the anniversary, the Liverpool Playhouse has revived this landmark of 20th century drama in a brilliant new production.

If Julie Walters and Michael Caine, who played Rita and Frank in the 1983 movie version, cast a long shadow for you, then you must go and see Leanne Best and Con O'Neill in these classic parts. Within seconds of the play starting, they have made the roles their own.

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Conor Murphy's set design is stunning, making Frank's cramped, dusty book-filled office to look and feel as big as a universe, representing the infinite possibility and opportunity that literature holds for Rita.

Willy Russell has worked closely with director Gemma Bodinetz on this new version and some of the topical references from the 1980 original have been refreshed for a 2015 audience.

But as Bodinetz says in the programme notes, the social divisions that Educating Rita so cleverly skewered 35 years ago are, sadly, still prevalent today, which makes the play just as relevant.

"Happily, this is one of the things that makes it a great play," she says.

It was lovely to see Willy Russell standing unassumingly at the back of the stalls at the very start of the performance, still taking a protective interest in his work.

Educating Rita was coloured by Russell's own early life and it must be gratifying for him - now aged 67 - to see his work still striking a chord with modern audiences.

Much of his work is about people who feel trapped because of circumstances, usually the constraints of the working class communities they are born into. But his message - if he has one - is that anybody can escape and overcome the obstacles in their path if they are determined.

Educating Rita has long been one of my favourite plays and I cannot recommend this production highly enough.

It runs until Saturday, March 7. Call the Playhouse box office on 0151 709 4776.

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