When Frank, a cynical English professor with a weakness for the bottle, encounters Rita, a naive hairdresser who has a desperate desire to learn, it's a life-changing experience for both of them in Willy (Shirley Valentine) Russell's 1980 comedy Educating Rita.

Colin Moody plays the alcoholic academic in this touring production of the two-hander which has a season at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre.

Moody says Frank is "a jaded, lost, sceptical person". He's a failed poet, disillusioned with university life, whose first marriage ended in divorce and whose second relationship, with a former student, now a tutor at the same university, is also in trouble. But his fear of the unknown and the easy temptation of the bottle of Scotch means it's hard for him to make significant changes for the better in his life.

Into his office one day comes a woman in her mid-20s who calls herself Rita (Francesca Bianchi). She left school at 15 and, Moody says, "is full of the fear of regret of missing out on life".

She's on the contraceptive pill, unbeknownst to her husband who wants to start a family, and undertaking an Open University course in English Literature.

"She doesn't want children; she wants to find herself."

And Frank is the tutor who, through the course of the year covered in the play, helps her discover the world of literature as well as much about herself - as she helps him rediscover possibilities he thought were lost and re-examine some of his middle-class attitudes towards education and privilege, though it's not always smooth going.

"He just took it for granted; she's had to fight for every inch - that's part of the clash between them."

Moody says audiences love the Pygmalion-like battle of wills and wits between the professor and his student, enjoying the journey of the two characters and the highs and lows of their relationship as they strike sparks off each other in a play that's both funny and poignant. It was made into a 1983 film starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

The season at the Q comes towards the end of a long tour that began in Brisbane and has covered a large part of mainland Australia.

"It's had its ups and downs:you get quite depressed in a hotel room sometimes, other times you get the irresponsibility of being on tour is just great."

Moody is no stranger to theatrical touring or the Canberra region. Although this is his first time performing at the Q, he's been to the Playhouse at the Canberra Theatre in Neil Armfield's production of The Secret River and in Bell Shakespeare productions of Julius Caesar and Macbeth.

Asked about his alleged reputation in some quarters for being difficult to work with, Moody says, "Some people just want to be agreed with". He says he is in favour of frank and honest discussions between actors and directors about matters of interpretation and that these lead to stronger productions. Although he says Educating Rita wasn't a particularly noteworthy production on that score, The Secret River - which he is returning to for a season in Adelaide next year - was another matter.

"Myself and Mr Armfield often had robust interchanges but we still work together."