As Spencer Tracy said of Katharine Hepburn: "There ain't much meat on her, but what there is is cherce."

Willy Russell's 1980 play Educating Rita was never a revelation, drawing heavily on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. But two terrific performances by Rita Broderick and Wade P. Wood and subtle direction by Rick Bernstein make an involving, entertaining production at Denver Victorian Playhouse.

Rita is a hairdresser in Liverpool, given to loud clothing and loud words. But she hungers for more and begins taking adult ed classes. She signs up for tutoring from a professor, Frank, who neither wants to tutor nor do much of anything but drink.

Where it goes isn't particularly shocking: Frank becomes enraptured by Rita, until she learns enough not to need his erudition quite so much. It's a timeless parable, not only between student and teacher but in romantic relationships as well.

The romance here is entirely suggested, which makes it all the more absorbing. Frank flirts with Rita in the most unseemly of ways, with her laughing it off with a giggle and a "Go away!"

Both actors are so immersed and natural in their roles it's a pleasure to watch them. Where Rita is bubbly champagne, Frank is a flat RC Cola. She's chatty and effusive, and Broderick makes it clear why this odd bird is so appealing. As she becomes more educated, she becomes more isolated from her previous life, and Broderick reflects an encroaching loneliness.

Wood makes a gruff, intelligent professor and a believable drunk, seldom visibly intoxicated. He's personally wounded by her growing independence. As her fortunes rise, his plummet.

Their meetings take place over a single year in Frank's office, a warmly cluttered environment designed by Bernstein and Wood. Susan Lyles designed costumes to reflect character, particularly Rita's evolution from pub girl to attempted respectability.

But the episodic nature of the play isn't helped by direction or design. It's frequently unclear whether scenes are separated by minutes or weeks. Rather than the blackouts required, the lights merely dim and we watch actors walk on and offstage. Lyles cleverly adds bits and pieces to Rita's clothing, but they don't have the impact that full costume changes would.

In a play about striving, Denver Vic needs to step up its game to reach the sublime.

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

Educating Rita

* Grade: B

* When and where: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 21, Denver Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St.

* Cost: $22

* Information: 303-433-4343