'Miss Delaney brings real people on to her stage... she is busy recording the wonder of life as she lives it' Kenneth Tynan, Observer A Taste of Honey became a sensational theatrical success when first produced in London by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1958. Now established as a modern classic, this comic and poignant play, by a then nineteen-year-old working-class Lancashire girl, was praised at its London premiere by Graham Greene as having 'all the freshness of Mr Osborne's Look Back in Anger and a greater maturity.' It was made into a highly acclaimed film in 1962. The play is about the adolescent Jo and her relationship with her irresponsible mum, Helen, the Nigerian sailor who leaves Jo pregnant and Geoffrey, the homosexual art student who moves in to help Jo with the baby. It is also about Jo's unshakeable optimism throughout her trials. This story of a mother and daughter relationship (imitated in many other modern British plays since), set in working-class Manchester, continues to engage new generations of audiences. “Some of Delaney's themes may feel dated but her writing still glitters dangerously and wittily. A Taste of Honey remains a passionate statement about real people trapped in poverty, deprived of ambition and vulnerable to manipulation by the fickleness of others.” ― Independent, (19 November 2008) “Brawling, boozing, teenage pregnancy and fractured families: Shelagh Delaney's benchmark drama, first staged by Joan Littlewood in London in 1958, has lost none of its relevance 50 years on... The quirkiness and passion of Delaney's young voice still rings out... It remains passionate and pungent.” ― The Times, (19 November 2008) “Its raw eloquence, sometimes almost lyrical, its tough, swaggering humour...its frank brutality and unblinking humanity.” ― Sunday Times, (23 November 2008) “Delaney's achievement was to write, with comic vividness, about the world she knew . . . the tone is often raucously comic, and the final message is of the human spirit's capacity for survival.” ―Michael Billington, Guardian “The inimitability of a classic ... A Taste of Honey hits the sweet spot all over again.” ―Dominic Maxwell, The Times “Delaney's play was not just wise and accomplished for a girl of eighteen. It is wise and accomplished, full stop.” ―Laura Thompson, Telegraph “The real genius of Delaney's work is in how it anticipates the future realities of late 20th-century Britain ... themes which have yet to be fully accepted by society.” ―Jonathan Brown, Independent Shelagh Delaney was born in Salford, Lancashire. She is most well-known for A Taste of Honey , for which she won the Foyle's New Play Award and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. She wrote the screenplay for the film version with Tony Richardson and was awarded the British Film Academy Award and the Robert Flaherty Award. Her other screenplays include The White Bus and Charley Bubbles , for which she won the Writers' Guild Award. She has also written for television and radio and has had a collection of short stories published. She died in 2011. Jenny Stevens was an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and currently combines educational consultancy work with teaching and writing. She is the co-author with Pamela Bickley of Essential Shakespeare: The Arden Guide to Text and Interpretation (2013) and Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama: Text and Performance (2016). Elaine Aston is Professor of Contemporary Performance at Lancaster University. Chris Megson is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has taught and published widely in the field of modern drama, and is editor of The Methuen Drama Book of Naturalist Plays . Other works include: Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (with Alison Forsyth, 2011), and Modern British Playwriting: The 70s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations (2012). Matthew Nichols graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2003 and has been teaching and leading outstanding Drama and Performing Arts departments for over a decade. Matthew also has extensive experience at a senior level with several exam boards, and was responsible for writing one of the reformed GCSE qualifications in Drama. In addition, Matthew works with schools, colleges, universities and theatres across the country. Matthew is a successful and sought after Drama education consultant, and was one of the founders of Drama Defined, which specialises in delivering high quality Drama education courses to staff and students. Matthew is currently Head of Drama at Manchester Grammar School. You can reach him on Twitter @matthew_drama. Used Book in Good Condition