Taste of Honey

                                                         
                                                    Taste of Honey - Review


One of the joys of theatre is the different responses you have to productions.  They can leave you moved, informed, sad or upbeat, and having seen Taste of Honey at the Trafalgar Studios, I left feeling reflective.

The show, written by 19 year old Shelagh Delaney, is being performed in the West End for the first time in sixty years, and it tells the story of Helen (Jodie Prenger) and her 17 year old daughter Jo (Gemma Dobson), and their volatile relationship in 1950's Salford.

Helen wants love, and runs off to be with a car salesman, leaving Jo at home on her own.  Jo falls for Jimmie, a sailor who promises to marry her when he returns home on leave.  When things don't go as planned, Jo takes in Geoff as her new flat mate, and he looks after her until Helen returns.

The characters are all flawed, but intrinsically human.  There is love between mother and daughter but it is hidden behind a wall of ill feeling and resentment. Both women are hard and difficult to warm to, but they are each doing what they feel they need to do to survive.

The cast are all excellent and their performances are enhanced by the three piece jazz band who are onstage throughout the play, and the vocals of some of the cast during the performance.

The play is forthright about the issues of the day, and the social norms and expectations of Britain at that time.  Leaving the theatre you are aware that whatever is happening today in our still imperfect world, things have more forward a lot in the last sixty years.

The show is on a limited run until 29 February 2020.
For tickets visit  www.londonboxoffice.co.uk