A Taste of Honey

"A Taste of Honey" is the first play by British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written at the age of 18. Initially intended as a novel, she created the work into a play because she hoped to revitalize British theatre to confront and address social issues not being presented. The play was first produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, and it premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a small fringe theatre in London on May 27, 1958. The production then transferred to the larger and more renowned Wyndham's Theatre in the West End on February 10, 1959.

ynopsis

"A Taste of Honey" is set in 1950s Manchester, England. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl whose mother, Helen, is a crude, sexually indiscriminate 'slapper'. Jo's mother abandons her after finding Peter, a rich and much younger lover. At the same time, Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. Their budding love becomes a marriage proposal, which Helen strongly denounces, by ridiculing the idea of Jo marrying. Jimmy goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone to find lodging with Geoffrey, her homosexual acquaintance. Geoffrey assumes the role of father until Helen's return, when the future of Jo's new family is put into question. "A Taste of Honey" commented on race and gender matters in mid-twentieth century Britain, but also questioned the constraints of family, and re-evaluated the "nuclear family ideal" of that generation of working class Britons.

Characters

*"Helen": A hardened, middle-aged, working class alcoholic.
*"Josephine, her daughter": A teenager, raised solely by Helen.
*"Boy": Also known as Jimmy, a black sailor that Jo falls in love with and impregnates her.
*"Peter": A younger, wealthy man from London, for whom Helen leaves Josephine in order to start a new life.
*"Geoff": A homosexual art student in his early twenties who becomes Jo's roommate and somewhat of a caretaker for her in Act II when Jo is pregnant and alone.
*"The Apex Jazz Trio": Jazz music is played throughout the play, adding to the popular appeal and working-class spirit of the work.

History

"A Taste of Honey" became known as a "kitchen sink" play (the first was "Look Back in Anger" by John Osborne) that then were revolutionising British theatre. The play confronts many social ills of the time, including pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancy, abortion, and adoption from the woman's point-of-view. In its time, this open, frank discussion of these taboo subjects was the first avant-garde approach in 1950s Britain. The characters are so incarnated that, despite their outrageous tendencies, the working class British audience may easily relate to them. The play and its film adaptation were influential in changing the general, working class public's attitude towards art and society.

Original Cast

Original cast and crew

*Helen - Avis Bunnage
*Josephine - Frances Cuka
*Peter - Nigel Davenport
*The Boy - Clifton Jones
*Geoffrey - Murray Melvin
*The Apex Jazz Trio- Johnny Wallbank (cornet), Barry Wright (guitar), Christopher Capon (double bass)
*Setting by - John Bury
*Costumes by - Una Collins

Original Broadway cast

*Helen - Angela Lansbury
*Josephine - Joan Plowright
*Peter - Nigel Davenport
*The Boy - Billy Dee Williams
*Geoffrey - Andrew Ray

Revival

In 2006, it was revived and toured various theatres. With the following cast:

*Helen - Samantha Giles
*Josephine - Samantha Robinson
*Peter - Andonis Anthony
*The Boy - Chris Jack
*Geoffrey - Bruno Langley

Later productions

On October 4, 1960, the play made its debut opening in New York at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre with a Tony Richardson-directed cast headed by Joan Plowright (playing young Jo at 30) Angela Lansbury (portraying her mother at only four years older than Plowright) and Billy Dee Williams, who starred as Jimmy, Jo's lover who impregnates her.

The play was adapted into a film of the same name in 1961. The play earned several awards, including the "Charles Henry Foyle New Play award" in 1958 and the "New York Drama Critics' Circle" in 1961. The film version won the "BAFTA Award for Best Film" in 1961 and a "Best Actress award" for Dora Bryan. The film also won two additional awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 for best actor (Murray Melvin) and best actress (Rita Tushingham).

Popular references

The play was admired by Morrissey of the band The Smiths, who used Delaney's photo on the album cover artwork for "Louder Than Bombs". Another photo of Shelagh Delaney appears on the cover for their song, "Girlfriend in a Coma". An earlier Smiths song, "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", is based on Delaney's story and includes Geoffrey's line to Jo near the end of the play, "the dream has gone but the baby is real." Other quotations and near-quotations appear in several other Smiths and Morrissey songs. [ [http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/ It May All End Tomorrow: A Smiths and Morrissey website] ]

Reviews

Recently, "A Taste of Honey" has been revived, produced, and received good reviews citing that “unlike "Look Back in Anger", whose metaphors and structure may now look dated, "A Taste of Honey", with essentially no plot and no topical references, has survived the changes in theatre and society in the last twenty years. [ cite journal
last = Collins
first = Michael J.
title = Review: A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney
journal = Theatre Journal
volume =33
issue =4
date = 1981
url = http://links.jstor.org
accessdate = 2007-12-10 ]

“A remarkable play”…by an…”original exuberant writer with a wonderful ear for a theatrical line…” -Mollie Panter-Downes, "The New Yorker" magazine

“Miss Delaney brings real people on to her stage…she is busy recording the wonder of life as she lives it.” - Kenneth Tynan, "The Observer"

“A remarkable page of theatre history has been written…” - "Daily Telegraph"

[ [http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/tasteofhoney-rev.htm The British Theatre Guide : Reviews - A Taste of Honey (Theatre Royal, York) ] ]

References

External links

*ibdb show|id=1300|title=A Taste of Honey