Cultural Dessert

The Open University at Walton Hall in Milton Keynes looks remarkably like a typical, leafy university campus, with one major exception - there are no students. Apart from a few postgraduates, OU students never actually visit the university's headquarters, giving you the impression, as you stroll between the faculty buildings, of a permanent vacation. Nevertheless Walton Hall does its best to resemble any other university - with sports facilities, bars, a refectory and a host of university societies, including a choir and amateur drama group. The Open University is currently celebrating its 40th birthday and I can think of few better ways to mark the occasion than to watch the Open Theatre Group in the Old Lecture Theatre performing Willy Russell's 'Educating Rita' - as we did last Friday. Once derided by some at the OU as poking fun at the Open University, 'Educating Rita' is now seen more as a celebration of the kind of universal access to further education that the OU was established to provide. And it's a fantastic play. As someone with just a vague recollection of having seen the film starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine, I was impressed by how substantial, complex, funny and moving the play is. The Open Theatre Group production was excellent with brilliant performances by Laurie Lazard and Richard Walker.