Rita, Sue and Bob Too/A State Affair

Originally commissioned by Max Stafford-Clark for the Royal Court in 1982, Rita, Sue and Bob Too caused a sensation on its first performance for its frank portrayal of child sexuality in a northern town; the fact that the play was based on the writer's own experience only added to the furore.

Eighteen years later, Stafford-Clarke returned with a group of actors to the Bradford estates that Andrea knew. A State Affair by Robin Soans is a record of what they found.

'A genius straight from the slums' - Shelagh Delaney (on Andrea Dunbar) Mail on Sunday

'This is life, the facts are there... these things do go on - maybe not in every circle, but certainly in mine' - Andrea Dunbar, Yorkshire Post, 1986.

Out of Joint's production of Rita, Sue and Bob Too and A State Affair premiered at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre in October 2000.

Author: Andrea Dunbar, Robin Soans
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Published: 06/02/2009
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 7.78h x 5.18w x 0.48d
ISBN: 9780413757005

About the Author

Andrea Dunbar was a British playwright. Her first play was The Arbor (1977), a brilliant depiction of an abusive father-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.

Born in 1947, Robin Soans is an English actor and playwright, who specialises in verbatim theatre. His plays include: Across the Divide, A State Affair (published by Methuen Drama, 2000); The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, Talking to Terrorists, Life after Scandal, Bet Noir and Will and Testament.