Kitchen think drama

Shelagh Delaney's classic story of forbidden love and teenage angst in 1950s Salford, A Taste of Honey, comes to Edge Hill University's Rose Theatre on Thursday 11^th March 2010.

Jo is a shy, awkward 17-year old, living with her irresponsible, alcoholic mother. Desperate for affection after her mother abandons her yet again for another toyboy lover, Jo seeks solace in the arms of a young, black sailor on shore leave.

Their short but passionate relationship ends when Jimmy has to go back to sea, but she finds friendship in the shape of Geoffrey, a gay man and fellow lost soul. The pair move in together and, when Jo finds out she is carrying the sailor's baby, Geoffrey stands by her and even asks her to marry him.

The brief ‘taste of honey' Jo and Geoffrey share in the days after the baby is born - an oasis of normality in their unhappy and complicated lives - is eventually shattered by Jo's mother who returns to wreak havoc on the little family and take control once again of Jo's life.

All the thorny social issues of the day are present in Delaney's celebrated play - inter-racial romance, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality - but it is the characters and the complexity of their relationships that really make it memorable. Rightly considered a modern classic, A Taste of Honey is a funny, moving, and above all realistic, portrayal of working class life in the 1950s.

Shelagh Delaney was just 19 years old when she wrote the compelling story of Jo, the young working class girl who dreams of a better life but ends up in a living nightmare. It was first performed by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1958 and made into one of the best-loved English kitchen sink drama films in 1961.

Love&Madness is one of the UK's leading touring companies. They are renowned for their fresh, accessible productions which aim to bring classical theatre to a younger and wider audience.

• Performance at 7.30pm
• Tickets £8.50 / £6.50 concessions.

For more information contact the Box Office:

• The Rose Theatre, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4QP
• Tel: 01695 584480
• Web: www.edgehill.ac.uk/rosetheatre