

Townsend Plays 1
Sue Townsend
What readers are saying
Readers have mixed feelings about the play, appreciating its raw portrayal of working-class life. Some find the delivery compelling, while others criticize the lack of a central plot and the harshness of the subject matter. Many appreciate the historical context and the script's power, but some struggle with the format of verbatim theatre.
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.
Rita, Sue And Bob Too; A State Affair is a British play written by Andrea Dunbar and published by Methuen in London (2009).
Digital editions available on Amazon Kindle .
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