What's On

Belvoir is proud to present the Ausralian premiere of the 1958 English classic, A Taste of Honey. Directed by Belvoir’s Artistic Director, Eamon Flack, A Taste of Honey is vaudeville meets kitchen sink in one of the greatest (and half-forgotten) plays of the 20^th century, and wonderfully, one that was written by a young, working class woman.

It is the 1950s, Jo is in her teens, pregnant, and on her own since her African boyfriend went back to sea. But she’s always had to find her own way in her working-class neighbourhood: Dad never existed, and Mum – well, Mum has run away from home to shack up with a car salesman. Jo meets art student Geoff; he’s got nowhere to go since his landlady threw him out for being gay. Together they set up an unconventional, but happy, family – until Jo’s mother, Helen, comes crashing back to destroy their sweet little life.

A Taste of Honey was the first play by British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written in 1958 when she was just 19 years old. The orginal production’s program note described her as "the antithesis of London's 'angry young men'. She knows what she is angry about." Delaney hoped to address social issues for women and the working class that she felt were not being presented on stage. A Taste of Honey was revolutionary and ground-breaking – it was a hit in the West End and on Broadway, before being made into an award-winning, now classic, film. The play’s commentary on social norms and acceptable life-choices remain as poignant as they were in 1958, exploring themes like single-parent and blended families, interracial relationships, sexual orientation, teen pregnancy and a disenfranchised working class that feels abandoned by the majority of the world around them.

Under the direction of Flack is a supurb cast featuring Taylor Ferguson (Ghosts), Thuso Lekwape (Prize Fighter), Tom Mesker (in his Belvoir debut) and the legendary Genevieve Lemon (Seventeen) as Helen.

“Delaney was a bit of a prophet and her play anticipates the massive tectonic shifts in gender politics, queer politics, race, that we’re wresting with today,” said Flack. “More than anything though, it’s wonderfully, furiously alive.”

A Taste of Honey is supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation.

“funny, touching and extraordinarily prescient” TimeOut New York

“There is such a depth of understanding, such a rich sense of what makes people tick. Highly Recommended.” Chicago Sun Times