Available Formats
Rita, Sue and Bob Too
By (Author) Andrea Dunbar
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Methuen Drama
11th September 2017
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Theatre studies
822.914
Paperback
96
Width 129mm, Height 198mm
89g
Do you think it would be better if you and me got ourselves steady boyfriends
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 each of them think they control.
Andrea Dunbars semi-autobiographical play, written for the Royal Court Theatre in 1982 when she was just 19, is a vivid portrait of girls caught between brutal childhood and an unpromising future, both hungry for adult adventure.
Told with wicked humour, startling insight and a great ear for dialogue, this new edition of Rita Sue and Bob Too was published to coincide with director Max Stafford-Clark's major new production produced by Out of Joint, Bolton Octagon and the Royal Court Theatre.
Dunbars play is as fresh as a stiff northerly wind off the Pennines. The story is bursting with a gutsy vitality * London Evening Standard *
If you've ever known a junkie or an alkie, or felt for a second that your own life might spiral out of control, you'll recognise the mix of despair and black humour as the real thing. By the end of it, you just might feel like crying. * The Guardian *
A brilliant, scabrous comedy * Daily Mail *
...a gritty and penetrating insight into the lives of two working class teenage girls struggling to find their way in the early years of Margaret Thatcher's Britain. -- The Reviews Hub
The voice of writer Andrea Dunbar showcased reality using sharp humour and an even sharper social commentary. -- The Mancunion
Andrea Dunbar was a British playwright. Her first play was The Arbor (1977), a brilliant depiction of an abusive father and daughter relationship. The play premiered at the Royal Court, directed by Max Stafford-Clark, winning the Young Writers' Festival. Her most well-known piece for theatre is Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1982), which was set in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and was a study of the sexual adventures of teenage girls. This was adapted for a film in 1986. Her third play, Shirley was produced in 1986. She died of a brain haemorrhage in 1990, at the age of 29.