Lenny Henry will appear in Educating Rita at the Minverva Theatre in Chichester

With a career that has spanned everything from stand-up comedy to Shakespeare – and all those Premier Inn adverts – it is not bad for the boy from Dudley who left school without a single O’ level.

Now as he prepares for his Chichester debut in Willy Russell’s classic comedy Educating Rita ( Minerva Theatre, June 18- July 25), he has spoken to the Daily Echo about why this play about the transformative power of education is so poignant for him.

Lenny, 56, will play English lecturer Frank.

He has never met anyone like outspoken hairdresser Rita (Lashana Lynch), until the Open University brings them together, changing both of their lives.

Willy Russell’s touching and enduring comedy about the relationship between teacher and student has delighted audiences around the world, and celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.

Lenny said: “It’s very exciting. It was a massive film but it was a play before that.

"I saw the film years ago and the text is very different. In the play with Rita, it brings her world into a tiny room and does it for two and a half hours so it’s very intimate, so you learn about all her problems and the joys and triumphs of the working class person.

"Once Frank relaxes he starts revealing more of himself and you feel he’s never revealed anything of himself before.

"He’s never had anything like this happen to him before.”

What does he think is the appeal of the play?

“It’s a Rolls Royce of a play. When I read it – there are several versions and it’s been going since the early 80s – you see the vibrancy of the two characters.

"Frank’s love of language and education is made apparent through the piece and Rita is so naturally witty and a properly tragic character in that she wants to learn everything and she’s thrown herself at his mercy.”

But Lenny has genuine empathy for Rita having embraced education later in life himself.

After leaving school at 16, winning New Faces and finding himself doing two shows a night in Blackpool with Cannon and Ball, Lenny decided to take some O’ levels at nearby Preston college.

Backstage, after doing impressions for holidaymakers, he would sit and read Yeats, Tennyson and Shakespeare.

He took his exams in English language and literature while doing the TV show Tiswas!

But it was only when he turned 40 that he decided to do an Open University degree, just like Rita.

“I did an open university degree from the age of 40 to 46 and got a BH (Honours) in English Literature so it really resonates with me, and anyone who thinks life is over at 40, 50 or 60 must come and understand that whatever your class or age the opportunities are fantastic.”

Lenny talks with enthusiasm about the pleasure of studying, and is grateful to the inspirational and supportive tutors who helped him, just like Frank.

So why had he decided to take a degree at 40. Was the birthday milestone significant?

“My mum had just passed away and she always said she’d have liked me to have a good education and she was always disappointed I hadn’t stayed in education longer.

"Then I was in the Hope and Glory TV series playing a super head and I was sat in the makeup room and saw an advert for the Open University and I just thought ‘should I?’

“I did a prep year of studying and I got back in the groove of writing essays and I was suddenly off! I felt I needed to do it.

I read voraciously anyway.

“Also, I had got an honorary BA from Warwick University – I was doing Chef at the time – and I sat up there and got a lovely speech about all the things I’ve done; for four and a half hours I sat there when people had worked really hard for their degrees.

"I sat there looking and thinking I don’t want a fake one – I want a real one! I want the feeling that I’ve worked really hard for it.

“I only got some CSEs at school – about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

“I didn’t do A’ levels so it just shows you can do anything at any age. The average open university student is 65 – often lonely old ladies with cats!”

Lenny says that it was this academic study that gave him the confidence to take on parts like Othello and even though he made his name as a comedian he “always loved acting”.

“I always felt best when playing a character. I started enjoying the stand-up comedy evenings less when I got to do acting.

"When I did Othello in 2009 it was the steepest learning curve. I learnt classical and Shakespearean dialogue and I learnt to act in a month. I literally squeezed as much juice out of that experience as I could.”

After being awarded his BA, he “missed education”, and took a masters degree in screenwriting at Royal Holloway, University of London, achieving a distinction.

Now he is working towards a PhD studying the representation of black people in the media.

Looking back, he says his school was “a conveyor belt for factory workers and university was never mentioned”.

Now he says: “I’m now writing scripts and being creative: I’ve discover a sixth gear I didn’t think I had. It’s important to do things that frighten you a bit.

"With Othello I’d always pushed aside theatre saying there’s not enough money and it’s too long a commitment but Othello was nearly a year of work.

"It was quite a big, allencompassing experience and it taught me all about voice and posture on stage. To have a job as an actor is a big responsibility.”

For Lenny, the cherry on the cake was winning the 2009 Evening Standard Outstanding Newcomer award for Othello after the show – first staged at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds – transferred to London.

Following this, his Royal National Theatre debut in Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors was “a massive turning point” and now acting has become his main focus .

Lenny Henry will join a panel of young people at Youth Get In! on Saturday, July 11 at 11am at the Minerva Theatre.

Tickets £5.

•  Educating Rita is at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester from June 18 - July 25.

To book, go to cft.org.uk or contact the Box Office on 01243 781312.