Educating Rita is a play by Willy Russell about a working-class hairdresser named Rita who enrolls in an Open University literature course to find a better way of life and ends up transforming herself and her cynical, alcoholic tutor, Frank. Over the course of their lessons, Rita gains confidence and independence, questioning social expectations and the institutions of education. The play explores themes of social class, education, and personal growth through the developing relationship between the two characters, who both undergo profound changes by the end of the play.