Rita, Sue and Bob Too

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 Dunbar's 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.

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.