What became clear, watching the new production of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey at the National Theatre, was that most, if not all, of the reasons for reviving the play now are to be found in its past. It was very much a part of the move – in film and fiction, as well as theatre – away from London and the south-east towards the regions, away from upper- and middle-class scenarios towards the working class. And, of course, as Jeanette Winterson (who else?) argues in the programme, it was important that Delaney was not just a working-class writer, but a working-class woman who was also a woman. [A woman who was also a working-class writer? A woman writer who was also working class?]
And, as Winterson says,
Who else, in 1958, was writing about an unmarried pregnant teenager, her gay friend, a gentle sexy black sailor, and a single mother?
Shelagh Delaney
So, for schools and colleges – there in force the evening we went – and students of drama, this is a significant revival. But otherwise … ? God, it’s slow, acres of stage time when nothing much happens – nothing happens to much effect – the dialogue so repetitious, the development so laboured – and it’s hard not to be distracted by the insistent coughing from various parts of the auditorium, the brilliance of the set, the slow ticking of the watch upon your wrist. All of which, presumably, accounts, to some degree, for the nature of Lesley Sharp’s performance as Helen, the mother, a bizarre accumulation of physical ticks and artful poses, the lines delivered in an accent so broad it’s difficult not to get the impression that she’s sending the whole thing up. It’s less a performance than a turn, and the only thing that can be said in its favour, is that without out there would be nothing on stage to catch the attention at all.
Kate O’Flynn, as the teenage Jo, lacks presence – lacks, really, the ability to make us care for her in her situation; Dean Lennox Kelly, as Helen’s boy friend, impersonates a drunk with the finesse of a pantomime dame; and Harry Hepple as Geoffrey makes anyone who saw the movie wish for Murray Melvin.
