A Taste Of Honey 

York Theatre Royal

by Susan Darlington

It’s the play that inspired many of Morrissey’s early Smiths lyrics but, had he been introduced to the kitchen-sink drama via Hull Truck Theatre’s revival of A Taste Of Honey, he may have thought twice.

Set in working-class Manchester in a lodging house that overlooks a slaughterhouse and gasworks, Shelagh Delaney’s play shocked audiences when it debuted in 1958 with its gritty portrayal of teenage pregnancy, alcoholism and inter-racial relationships.

But one of the biggest drawbacks in this Mark Babych directed restaging is the lack of chemistry between the characters. 

Watching someone running for a bus has more dramatic tension than when mouthy teenager Jo (Rebecca Ryan) is chased around the room by her feckless mother Helen (Julie Riley, doing her best Julie Walters impression). 

It’s likewise hard to believe that Helen’s louche fancy man Peter (James Weaver) is 10 years her junior when he looks old enough to be her father and his admonition "You can’t afford to lose a man like me" is thus awkwardly pitched. 

Typical of the weak timing throughout, it’s testament to the play’s classic lines that its wit remains largely intact.

There are problems too with the choice of music — adding a street-corner skiffle band and selection of period pop songs to the jazz tunes that were introduced by the play’s original director Joan Littlewood, along with a drunken Dirty Old Town, helps to set the scene yet Unchained Melody reflects little of the plot.

This all amounts to a production which lacks freshness or any sense of celebration of the human spirit, both of which separated it from the "angry young man" scene with which it was initially categorised.

Runs until July 12. Box office: 01904 623-568.