Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...Peppered with references to Shakespeare, Ibsen, Eliot, E.M. Forster, and even Rita Mae Brown, Russell's witty script charts Frank and Rita's platonic romance while critiquing a conformist, exam-centered higher-education system and exploring the difference between learning and wisdom. Despite questionable English accents, Whitney White and Brad Woodard deliver solid performances in Richard Corley's staging for Shattered Globe Theatre."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...As it stands, White is great a getting across Rita's frustrations with mundane working-class life and her joys of discovering literary insights from her teacher. In addition, Brad Woodard is also very good at showing Frank's revitalized passion for teaching, thanks to Rita."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Woodard, meanwhile, overstresses Frank’s shambolic misery. Could be the actors are hamstrung by Russell’s insistence on underlining every theme and explicating every metaphor; they’re left with nothing to play."
Chicago Theatre Addict
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Russell’s hilariously biting examination of higher education, and the hallow pretentiousness it can lead to, comes through loud and clear, despite Shattered Globe’s uneven production."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...I believe that the too long 90 minute first act could be trimmed by a few minutes. But there isn’t much to be done about Russell’s trite and predictable script. The shows plays like something we have seen before."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow
- Somewhat Recommended
"...White and Brad Woodard (Frank) have a typical student-teacher relationship. He pontificates. She argues intently until she doesn't. The problem is they are suppose to have an atypical relationship. Without the unique chemistry, White and Woodward become any other student-teacher. It works. It just doesn't crackle. I take pleasure in a nice, cozy campfire. But I really enjoy a big, raging bonfire. I couldn't possibly doze off if sparks are flying and a volatile threat of being burned is looming. EDUCATING RITA is a toasted marshmallow pleasure. To be riveting enough for a hog roasting feast, unfortunately, some of the dresses need to be sacrificed as kindling. And White and Woodward need to strike a match that ignites. Because in the end, I've forgotten all the calculus but I do remember Mike. Basking in the glow of an engaging tutor smolders on for decades."
Around The Town Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The set by Chelsea Warren is a masterful professor’s office crammed with books ( and bottles) and lots of “things” that propmater Abbie Jacobson did a superb job with. Christopher Kriz’ sound and use of music adds a certain charm to the over all picture that Corley paints and the costumes by Joanna Melville are extraordinary ( Ms White changes costumes with every scene and always looks great). I guess what keeps this production from hitting the “recommended” stage is that it is to long and the story is unrealistic in parts. Rita becomes learned far to quickly for a person who is only being tutored once a week. I also would have preferred her not smoking ( they use fake cigarettes, so not to worry) as she evidently has never smoked and it looked as if she had never held a smoke in her life."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Recommended
"...Questionable accents aside, Whitney White (Rita) and Brad Woodard (Frank) are believable as the unlikely duo–like any good odd pairing, White and Woodard balance and temper their offended social sensibilities with amusement and curiosity. When Rita’s reveals her favorite book, Frank relishes in her enthusiasm in spite of the convenience-store-novel’s ability to make his flesh crawl. Woodard also effectively taps into the play’s sexual subtext effectively, playing the intentions of an educated and rational man who knows the tension in the room stems only from himself. White creates an authentic arc as the titular student, shaping her role from a broad comedienne in the beginning to a thoughtful, layered character in the end. Her energy and charm helps carry the show’s dawdling pace, a problem otherwise exasperated by a little too much time listening to Robyn and Lily Allen in the dark."
