A Taste Of Honey

After a fantastic repertory Shakespeare double-bill in April, award-winning Daniel Taylor Productions return this October with a new production of the hard-hitting and gritty drama A Taste Of Honey that marks 60 years since its premiere.

Written by British dramatist Shelagh Delaney when she was just 18 years old, it was considered one of the most influential plays of its generation. Part of the post-war kitchen sink movement, the play premiered at Theatre Royal, Stratford East in 1958 before taking the West End by storm when it transferred to The Wyndham Theatre the following year, and The Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in 1960.

The play later became a classic of British cinema when it was adapted for the big screen in 1961 starring Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan.

Set in Salford in the 1950’s, the plot centres around 17-year-old Jo who is desperate to break free from her vulgar, wayward and man hunting mother, Helen. Resilient and feisty, Jo’s instinct for survival and happiness leads her to a taste of honey when she falls in love with Jimmy, a black sailor on shore leave.

Abandoned by her mother and left to cope on her own, Jo’s courage is tested yet again when Jimmy returns to sea, and she discovers she’s pregnant.

Defiant in the face of convention, Jo moves in with her friend Geoffrey, a young art student, who assumes the role of surrogate father to her unborn child. As their relationship deepens, Jo discovers that her independent spirit is both her torment and her salvation.