Education is something everyone has received at some point, be it from a teacher or a friend, and the comedy Educating Rita touches on the foundations of what education means.

The play is being produced by The Next Stage and starts 8 p.m. Friday in the studio space of The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave.

The play is a perfect show for college students because it's about who we are and how education changes us, said Jay Shuchter, producing artistic director for The Next Stage.

The show features only two actors, an adult female student and her male professor, and focuses on the relationship between the two, he said.

Rita, played by Susan Riddiford Shedd, is an older woman who works as a hairdresser but decides to return to school at the University of Liverpool. There, she is tutored by a professor named Frank, played by Wilson Hutton. The play follows the two over the course of the year and delves into their characters and the relationship they share, Shuchter said.

"The beauty of it is that people of all ages enjoy it for different reasons," Elaine Meder-Wilgus, director of the show, said. "And the humor translates to everyone."

The show uses only two people because it is consistent with the way English universities work, said Mary Skees, producing artistic director for The Next Stage.

In England, there are open universities where those who didn't graduate high school can still go to the university. The people who do this don't attend classes but have a tutor to teach them, Skees said.

The show features one setting -- Frank's office. The fact the studio space in the State Theatre seats only 50 people allows for a more intimate setting, Meder-Wilgus said.

"The best part is that the audience is almost walking right onto the set," she said.

Skees added it puts audience members right in the middle of things -- it's not just something they sit and watch, but creates the feel like they're actually there.

In regard to the relationship between the two characters, Meder-Wilgus didn't say if love was involved.

"The professor and student care for each other," she said. "It is romantic, yes. Learning has that spark of excitement that can be very attractive."

It nicely covers the fact that a kind of flirtation is part of the process of learning and teaching, Skees added.

The play was a hit when it appeared on Broadway, Meder-Wilgus said.

It was turned into a movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, she added.

"A lot of people are familiar with the film," she said. "People of all ages like it because the message is so universal."