Rita, Sue and Bob Too / A State Affair

Sharp, funny and disarmingly direct, Andrea Dunbar’s semi-autobiographical Rita, Sue and Bob Too follows the lives of two feisty schoolgirls who grow up on a Bradford estate and start an affair with a married man. Written in 1982 when Dunbar was only 18, the play was originally commissioned and directed by Max Stafford-Clark. Rita, Sue and Bob Too caught the mood of the early Thatcher years and became widely recognised as a marker of its time.

18 years later, life on Britain’s council estates is back in the spotlight as reports of an emerging underclass dominate the media. In the summer of 2000, Out of Joint  journeyed back to the estates around Bradford and Leeds where Andrea Dunbar grew up. A State Affair is a record of what they found.

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REVIEWS

‘Urgent, relevant and absolutely crucial’
-Guardian

‘I’d like all surviving members of the Thatcher, Major and Blair cabinets to see this searing double bill’
-The Sunday Times

‘Undoubtedly one of the best shows now on in London’
-The Sunday Telegraph

‘A massive achievement and a crucial account of life on an inner-city estate today’
-Time Out

CAST & CREATIVES

Cast: Emily Aston, Ian Redford, Emma Rydal, Lisé Stevenson, Matthew Wait, Gary Whitaker and Jane Wood.

Director: Max Stafford-Clark
Designer: Es Devlin
Lighting Designer: Johanna Town
Sound Designer: Frank Bradley

PERFORMANCES

Rita, Sue and Bob Too / A State Affair ran at Soho Theatre, London from 26 November 2000 till January 13 2001, followed by an international tour.