Synopses & Reviews
It's chaotic - a bit of love, a bit of lust and there you are. We don't ask for life, we have it thrust upon us.
Written by Shelagh Delaney when she was nineteen, A Taste of Honey is one of the great defining and taboo-breaking plays of the 1950s.
When her mother, Helen, runs of with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with a black sailor who promises to marry her before he heads for the seas, leaving her pregnant and alone.
Art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels.
A Taste of Honey offers an explosive celebration of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the female spirit in a deprived and restless world. Bursting with energy and daring, this exhilarating and angry depiction of harsh, working-class life in post-war Salford is shot through with love and humour, and infused with jazz.
The play was first presented by Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal Stratford, London, on 27 May 1958.
Review
“A passionate statement about real people trapped in poverty, deprived of ambition and vulnerable to manipulation”—The Independent "Delaney...record[s] the wonder of life as she lives it."—Observer
Synopsis
This play is about the adolescent Jo and her relationships with those around her—her irresponsible, roving mother Helen; her mother’s newly acquired drunken husband; the black sailor who leaves her pregnant; and Geoffrey, the homosexual art student who moves in to help with the baby. It is also about Jo’s unshakeable optimism throughout her trials.
Synopsis
'Miss Delaney brings real people on to her stage... she is busy recording the wonder of life as she lives it' Kenneth Tynan, Observer
A Taste of Honey became a sensational theatrical success when first produced in London by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1958. Now established as a modern classic, this comic and poignant play, by a then nineteen-year-old working-class Lancashire girl, was praised at its London premiere by Graham Greene as having 'all the freshness of Mr Osborne's Look Back in Anger and a greater maturity.' It was made into a highly acclaimed film in 1962.
The play is about the adolescent Jo and her relationship with her irresponsible mum, Helen, the Nigerian sailor who leaves Jo pregnant and Geoffrey, the homosexual art student who moves in to help Jo with the baby. It is also about Jo's unshakeable optimism throughout her trials. This story of a mother and daughter relationship (imitated in many other modern British plays since), set in working-class Manchester, continues to engage new generations of audiences.
Synopsis
Reissue of best-selling Methuen Modern Play in the new Methuen Student Edition cover style.
Synopsis
A Taste of Honey was first staged in 1958 and is now established as a modern classic. This comic and poignant play written by a then nineteen-year-old working-class Lancashire girl was praised at its London premiere by Graham Greene as having "all the freshness of Mr Osborne's Look Back in Anger and a greater maturity."
The play is a coming-of-age story about Jo, a seventeen year old young woman and her irresponsible, alcoholic, crude and sexually indiscriminate mother Helen who often neglects Jo in favor of her own romantic interests. Jo enters into a relationship with a Nigerian sailor who eventually leaves her alone and pregnant. She moves in with an acquaintance art student who is a homosexual and who acts as her surrogate father until her mother returns on the scene upending Jo's plans for the future.This mid-century play examined questions of race, class, gender and sexual orientation and ushered in a new era of modern dramatists. It was made into a highly acclaimed film in 1962.
Synopsis
A Taste of Honey was first staged in 1958 and is now established as a modern classic. This comic and poignant play written by a then nineteen-year-old working-class Lancashire girl was praised at its London premiere by Graham Greene as having "all the freshness of Mr Osborne's Look Back in Anger and a greater maturity."
The play is a coming-of-age story about Jo, a seventeen year old young woman and her irresponsible, alcoholic, crude and sexually indiscriminate mother Helen who often neglects Jo in favor of her own romantic interests. Jo enters into a relationship with a Nigerian sailor who eventually leaves her alone and pregnant. She moves in with an acquaintance art student who is a homosexual and who acts as her surrogate father until her mother returns on the scene upending Jo's plans for the future.This mid-century play examined questions of race, class, gender and sexual orientation and ushered in a new era of modern dramatists. It was made into a highly acclaimed film in 1962.
About the Author
Shelagh Delaney was born in Salford, Lancashire. She is most well-known for A Taste of Honey, for which she won the Foyle's New Play Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. She wrote the screenplay for the film version with Tony Richardson and was awarded the British Film Academy Award and the Robert Flaherty Award. Her other screenplays include The White Bus and Charley Bubbles, for which she won the Writers Guild Award. She has also written for television and radio and has had a collection of short stories published.