Shelagh Delaney wrote A Taste Of Honey when she was 19. A brief outline of its five characters will give some idea of the extraordinary impact it must have had back in 1958. Helen, a promiscuous single mother, has a teenage daughter, Josephine. Helen embarks on a relationship with Peter, a younger man with money, while Josephine is left to fend for herself in their down-at-heel flat. She falls for a black sailor, Jimmie, who proposes marriage, but leaves her pregnant. She has no-one to turn to, other than a kindly gay friend called Geoffrey. Her future seems bleak. For its time, this play was astonishingly frank in its depiction of race, class and sexuality. When the great Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop premiered it at the Theatre Royal Stratford East it was seen by some as coarse and vulgar, but there were many who hailed it as a very welcome slice of social realism.
It is undoubtedly an exceptional piece of work for a 19-year-old to have created, particularly as Delaney had no background in the arts, and had experienced little of the world beyond her home town of Salford. Sixty years ago, it caused a sensation, and is an icon of ‘kitchen sink’ drama. Does this new National Theatre production do it justice?
Director Bijan Sheibani has given prominence to an excellent three-piece jazz band, who remain on stage throughout. Their music effectively evokes a 1950s atmosphere, but their presence tends to detract from any sense that the action is taking place in a dismal flat, and Hildegard Bechtler’s set, though impressively flexible, does not have the oppressive dinginess that would underpin Josephine’s need to escape. Scene changes are achieved very efficiently, but in a stylishly choreographed manner that, again, seems a world away from working-class Salford. That this production has eschewed gritty realism is further emphasised when the characters burst into song. When we first see Helen, she is singing ‘A Good Man Is Hard To Find’. Appropriate enough, perhaps, but by the time Geoffrey had introduced himself with a rendition of the clumsily obvious ‘Mad About The Boy’, this use of song had become an unwelcome distraction.
Gemma Dobson is a splendidly stroppy Josephine, making it abundantly clear to Helen’s latest boyfriend that he is not welcome. Dobson conveys Josephine’s anger and resentment very effectively, though a little more emphasis could be given to her intelligence and sensitivity. Her best scene is with Stuart Thompson’s caring and supportive Geoffrey, as they negotiate their new domestic arrangement. Delaney was breaking new ground in presenting a gay man in such a role, though by today’s standards his part is somewhat cliché-ridden. Tom Varey is suitably light on his feet as Helen’s latest husband, Peter, and his sharp interchanges with Josephine have real bite. Jimmie is a less convincing creation. Durone Stokes is sweet and charming as Josephine’s sailor boyfriend, but here Delaney’s writing surely falls prey to teenage fantasy. A young black sailor who cheerfully compares himself to Shakespeare’s ‘lascivious moor’ is a forgivable confection from a 19-year old, but hard to take seriously.
The undoubted star of this show is Jodie Prenger, as Helen. Prenger portrays her as a woman who is all too aware that her best years are slipping into the distant past. She is determined to make the best of the time she has left. Brash, selfish and, at first, wholly unmotherly, she can be horribly cruel. When she dresses up to go out it is as if she has donned armour in which to fight life’s battles. Her life has been a series of disappointments, but she’s a fighter. She’s funny, too, which softens her sharp edges. This is Delaney’s writing at its most inventive.
A Taste Of Honey no longer shocks, and the level of characterisation is uneven. But it has lively interchanges where the language has real impact, and there are moments of sharp humour. I found that some sections of this production were a little lacking in emotional power, but this is a worthy revival, and Jodie Prenger’s force-of-nature performance as the formidable Helen is truly memorable. ★★★☆☆ Mike Whitton 29th October 2019
Photo by Marc Brenner
