NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Drama
A Taste of Honey
Learning and Teaching Guide
[HIGHER]
Charles Barron
The Scottish Qualifications Authority regularly reviews
the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of
all NQ support materials, whether published by LT
Scotland or others, are reminded that it is their
responsibility to check that the support materials
correspond to the requirements of the current
arrangements.
Acknowledgement
Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledge this contribution to the National
Qualifications support programme for Drama.
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
This resource may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational
establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage.
2
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
Contents
Section A: Overall directorial interpretation and dramatic
commentary
Act One, Scene One
Act One, Scene Two
Act Two, Scene One
Act Two, Scene Two
5
9
13
17
Section B: Directory of acting pieces
21
Section C: Further reading and viewing
29
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
3
All page references are to Delaney, Shelagh. A Taste
of Honey, London: Methuen. (Methuen Modern Plays.
First published 1959.)
4
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
Section A
ACT ONE, Scene One
(pages 7–22)
Why would Act One, Scene One be important in any
production of the play?
Provides context of the play and gives background to the action/storyline
• We see the situation that Helen and Jo find themselves in – impoverished,
helpless, hopeless.
• We get a first impression of the relationship between the characters:
• Helen and Jo are constantly arguing.
• Jo feels that she has the potential to make more of herself than Helen has.
• Helen seems not to care what happens to Jo.
• There is, though, a hint of pride in Helen’s recognition of Jo’s artistic
efforts.
• Jo calls her mother ‘Helen’ – very unusual in the 1950s.
• Jo is fully aware of her mother’s status as a ‘semi -whore’.
• We hear about Helen’s rootless life, constantly on the move, often hiding
from somebody.
• We see that Jo has higher standards than her mother, in spite of being
brought up by her.
• Peter puts in an appearance – a brash, boorish hanger-on of Helen’s.
• Peter is sexually demanding but Helen seems uninterested.
• He even offers to marry her, but we find it hard to take the gesture
seriously. The scene ends, though, with Helen apparently considering it.
• Jo is afraid of the dark – but only inside the house.
Begins plot
• Helen and Jo have just moved in to this flat but already Peter is suggesting
yet another move.
• Jo is nearing the end of her schooling and beginning to think of her future.
Introduces key characters
• Helen, the ‘semi-whore’, is clearly unable to organise her own life in a
satisfactory way.
• Jo despises much of her mother’s attitude to life.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
5
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• The two women squabble constantly, refuse to help each other, score
points off each other.
• Their relationship seems more like that of peers rather than mother and
daughter. This is emphasised by Jo addressing her mother by her first
name all the time.
• Peter is boorishly confident that Helen will accept him. He is openly
hostile to Jo, whom he sees as a barrier to his enjoyment of Helen’s
company.
• Jo seems to resent Peter’s arrival.
Establishes central themes and issues
• Peter’s presence emphasises the complexity of the relationship between
mother and daughter. On the face of it there is little affection between the
women, and yet Jo seems jealous of Peter.
• Helen’s poverty is partly due to her own la ck of ambition, will-power and
sense of her own worth.
• It is clear, though, that she finds herself in this situation partly because of
the role of women in 1950s society: they are dependant upon men.
• Poverty and a lack of decent living conditions are c ommonplace.
Why would Act One, Scene One be important in your
production of the play?
• What are your own directorial concepts? How will this scene introduce
them?
• Will you choose a naturalistic setting for this miserable flat?
• How will you ensure that the audience understand the 1950s attitudes to
poverty, the role of women in society, and sexual relations? How can you
make Peter seem credible even though his attitudes might seem out -dated
to a modern audience?
• How will you recreate the impact the play had on its first audiences? It
was one of the first plays to tackle unpleasant subjects in an open way,
following the revolution in theatre led by playwrights such as John
Osborne with his play, Look Back in Anger.
• Neither Helen nor Jo is a very sympathetic character. They are examples of
what became known as ‘the anti-hero’, a central character who lacks
obvious appeal to an audience. They are particularly interesting as being
among the very first female anti-heroes. How would you ensure that
audiences remain interested in them in spite of their unattractive qualities?
• What kind of relationship between Helen and Jo would you want to create?
• What kind of relationship between Helen and Peter would you want to
create?
• What kind of relationship between Peter and Jo would you want to create?
6
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• How do you want the audience to feel about Peter?
• How would you want Helen played as she talks with Peter? She appears to
be rejecting his advances and yet by the end of the scene she reveals to Jo
that she is at least considering the possibility of getting married.
• In your interpretation, what is Jo’s attitude to her mother?
• In your interpretation, what is Jo’s attitude to Peter?
Notes
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
7
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
8
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
ACT ONE, Scene Two
(pages 22–45)
Why would Act One, Scene Two be important in any
production of the play?
Introduces a new character
• The Boy will play a crucial role in the plot by fathering Jo’s baby.
Develops the plot
• The Boy proposes to Jo, although they haven’t known each other for very
long.
• Jo’s acceptance of the proposal is casual.
• She assures the Boy that Helen will not be prejudiced against him because
of his colour.
• She is as excited about his toy car as she is about the ring.
• We learn about Helen’s husband, and the fact that he wasn’t Jo’s father.
• Helen reveals her decision to marry Peter. Jo is opposed, apparently
because Helen is ten years older than Peter.
• Jo is leaving school and has found herself a part -time job.
• Helen proposes leaving Jo in the flat when she moves in with Peter.
Develops the key characters
• Peter makes the mistake of trying to tell Jo what to do. She attacks him,
‘half-laughing, half-crying’.
• Jo’s hostility to Peter is partly because of his attitude to her, but al so
because of her opposition to the marriage.
• She is suspicious of him and accuses him of being a womaniser. He
doesn’t deny it.
• Peter flirts a little with Jo and gives her a cigarette, perhaps as a peace
offering.
• The Boy quotes Othello, significant in view of their shared colour.
• On her own wedding day, Helen is violently opposed to Jo’s engagement.
• Jo is remarkably calm about the likelihood that the Boy will not come back
to her after his six-month tour of duty.
• Helen reveals that Jo’s father was ‘retarded’, and this makes Jo worry that
she may have inherited a mad streak.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
9
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• She also claims that he had been her first lover because her husband was
too puritanical to have consummated the marriage.
Develops central themes and issues
• The Boy is black. Jo has no prejudice and believes that her mother has
none either.
• Poverty. There isn’t much evidence for Helen’s marriage to Peter being a
love match. He can offer her a better house and money to spend; that’s
enough for her. ‘He’s got a wallet full of reasons.’
• We see further evidence of the complexity of the women’s relationship.
They are still sniping at each other; Helen feels no obligation to look after
Jo; she doesn’t seem to care what happens to her in the future. Yet Jo is
distraught at the idea of the marriage and even wants to be taken on the
honeymoon with them.
• Jo has higher ambitions for herself than Helen has. But she is unclear
about how to achieve them and runs the risk of slipping into her mother’s
ways just because society appears to offer her no escape.
Why would Act One, Scene Two be important in your
production of the play?
• What are your own directorial concepts for this scene?
• How will you show that the first scene between Jo and the Boy takes place
in the street?
• The play is grittily realistic and you might want to emphasise this by
showing a starkly realistic set. How then would you cope with the non realistic elements such as the street scene, the stage directions that require
Jo and Helen to ‘dance’ in and out, and the music?
• Some speeches refer to the other person in the dialogue in the third person.
‘Oh! I could kill her, I could really.’ Would you have the actors deliver
such lines direct to the audience?
• How would you reveal the underlying emotions in Jo’s scene with Peter?
• How will you ensure that the audience understand the 1950s attitude to
illegitimacy?
• How will you ensure that the audience understand the 1950s attitude to
mixed-race babies?
• What is the significance of Helen’s claim that her marriage was
unconsummated? How could you make sure that the audience are aware of
this?
• In this scene, would you want the audience to feel more sympathetic or
less sympathetic towards Jo than they did in Scene One? Why?
• In this scene, would you want the audience to feel more sympathetic or
less sympathetic towards Helen than they did in Scene One? Why?
10
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
Notes
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
11
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
12
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
ACT TWO, Scene One
(pages 46–69)
Why would Act Two, Scene One be important in any
production of the play?
Development of plot
• Jo is pregnant.
• She has made friends with Geof, a caring gay man.
• Geof moves into the flat. Jo assumes he has been thrown out by his
landlady for having entertained a male lover there, but we don’t know if
this is true.
• Geof plans to tidy up the flat.
• Jo has an attack of self-pity. She also claims to hate babies and the thought
of motherhood.
• Geof unexpectedly tries to kiss Jo and offers to marry her.
• Helen arrives – sent for by Geof who had felt she had a right to know
about the pregnancy.
• She immediately starts to bully Jo.
• Helen promises to send Jo money regularly.
• Peter arrives, very drunk, and is thoroughly unpleasant to everyone,
quarrelling with his wife, insulting Geof and mocking Jo.
• Helen offers to take Jo home, to look after her; but Peter is, of course,
furious.
• He gives Helen an ultimatum: go home with him, without Jo, or stay away.
She chooses to go with him, urging Geof to look after Jo.
Further illustration of central themes and issues
• Jo’s lack of prejudice is shown in her attitude to Geof.
• His hatred of people who laugh at others is stated. We can assume that he
has been laughed at because of his sexual preferences.
• Geof mocks at Jo’s art work, calling it sentimental. Ye t perhaps her hopes
of breaking out of her dreary lifestyle had lain in her art?
• Geof further challenges our attitudes to sexual stereotyping by making
clothes for Jo’s baby.
• He has arranged for the landlady to make a wicker basket cradle.
• Helen shows no interest in the baby. She refuses to help Jo; she doesn’t
want to be thought of as a grandmother because it makes her sound old.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
13
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• Helen shows a prejudiced attitude to Geof’s gayness.
• Helen has a brief impulse to look after Jo, but when Peter says she must
choose between him and Jo she settles for him and his money.
Development of character and relationships
• Although Jo has now left school and is pregnant, she still has a childlike
side to her character. It is brought out here as she plays with t he brightly
coloured balloons.
• Jo can’t resist teasing Geof about his sexuality but there is no hint of
prejudice in her attitude – just curiosity.
• There is a warm friendship developing between the two of them. She says
he is ‘just like a big sister’ to her.
• Geof is quite secretive about himself and his life style.
• Jo expresses disgust at the way some children are brought up – ‘It’s their
parents’ fault’.
• Geof’s behaviour is contradictory. He has many feminine characteristics
and doesn’t deny being gay. Yet he would like to have sexual relations
with Jo, be regarded as the father of her child and even marry her. He
agrees that it isn’t good for him to be with Jo, but he can’t bear to think of
leaving her.
• Helen treats Geof despicably, openly despising his gentle feminine
qualities.
• In spite of her own promiscuity, Helen accuses Jo of having low sexual
standards. Does she have some hope that Jo will avoid drifting into the
kind of lifestyle she has led?
• Jo has not considered an illegal abortion. She believes that Helen has had
several but here, too, she reveals different standards from her mother.
• When Geof tries to stop Helen and Jo shouting at each other, Helen tells
him, ‘We enjoy it’. They never show any affection for each other; perhaps
only their bitter quarrelling binds them together.
• Jo seems to take sides with her mother, temporarily, against Geof. Yet she
approves of him and despises her mother’s way of life. It is another
example of the bond between the women.
Why would Act Two, Scene One be important in your
production of the play?
• How does this scene develop your overall interpretation of the play?
• Geof dances on and off, with props for the next scene. How do you prevent
this destroying the realism of the play?
• Why is Geof so negative about Jo’s drawings, do you think?
• How would you expect the actor to demonstrate Geof’s sexual confusion?
• How would you bring out the growing warmth in the relationship of Jo and
Geof?
14
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• How is the pregnant Jo different from the Jo we sa w at the beginning of
the play?
• How will you want Helen to be acted throughout her scene?
• How would you want the actors playing Jo and Geof to reveal the sub -text
– the meaning that they are skirting round but are not able to express in
words?
• How do you want the audience to feel about Peter in this scene? How will
you achieve this?
• How will you make use of lighting to create the mood of the scene?
• How will you use the actors’ body language and facial expressions to show
the relationship between the four characters in this scene?
Notes
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
15
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
16
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
ACT TWO, Scene Two
(pages 69–87)
Why would Act Two, Scene Two be important in any
production of the play?
Development of plot
• The scene opens in an atmosphere of happy, gentle domesticity. Jo even
says, ‘I feel wonderful’.
• Geof has fulfilled Jo’s earlier prophecy that he would ‘make somebody a
wonderful wife’.
• The discovery of Jo’s forgotten bulbs, now dead, saddens and frightens
her.
• Jo tells Geof the story of her conception but he refuses to believe Helen
has been telling the truth.
• Jo wishes her mother were with her for the birth, even though she knows
they would only quarrel. In fact, she says she hates the sight of her.
• Geof has brought Jo a present – a life-sized doll ‘to practise a few holds
on’. She reacts violently, smashing the doll and threatening to kill the baby
when it comes.
• Helen moves back in.
• Geof moves out.
Further illustration of central themes and issues
• Helen’s attitude to Geof’s sexuality is even more unpleasant than before.
• Helen’s reliance on alcohol is emphasised again.
• Helen is revealed as a virulent racist.
• Helen’s stay in Peter’s better quality house has made her contemptuous of
the poverty of Jo’s flat – which she had been glad to get for herself a few
months before.
Development of character and relationships
• Pregnancy has made Jo more aware of the possibility of death. The sight of
her dead bulbs frightens her.
• Jo says, revealingly, of her mother, ‘She had so much love for everyone
else, but none for me’.
• Geof upsets Jo by saying that in some ways she is exactly like her mother.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
17
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
• Jo now seems to think Geof isn’t gay at all, but just ‘an old woman’. A
comfortable and comforting old woman.
• More strands in the complex Helen/Jo relationship: Jo admits that she both
hates the sight of her mother and longs to be with her.
• Jo’s reaction against the doll seems to be brought on by its colour. She
doesn’t want a black baby. Is she afraid of people’s reaction s? This has
never seemed to worry her before. This develops into a feeling that she
doesn’t want any baby.
• Geof manages to calm her and they return to a happy, contented state:
‘We’ve been married for a thousand years’.
• Once Helen moves in, she immediately takes over, bossing Jo around,
rejecting everything Geof has done, insulting him. The world must revolve
around her and at the moment she wants to play at being a grandmother.
This is because Peter has rejected her and she can no longer play her wife
role.
• Helen has bought a cot for the baby. Therefore Geof’s wicker cradle must
be thrown away. The food he has brought for Jo is similarly rejected.
• Geof knows that Jo can’t cope with him and Helen both in the house; so he
goes.
• Helen reacts violently to the news that the baby will be of mixed race. She
is appallingly rude about it.
• In the end, Jo is stuck with her mother and their love/hate relationship. She
is thinking happily about Geof as the play ends, unaware that he has gone,
sacrificing his own happiness, perhaps mistakenly, for her.
Why would Act Two, Scene Two be important in your
production of the play?
• How does this scene develop your overall interpretation of the play?
• It is difficult for modern audiences to recognise how shockin g some
elements of the play were in 1958. Sex outside marriage, illegitimacy,
homosexuality, abortion and babies of mixed race were all disapproved of
and regarded as illicit or even illegal. The fact that Delaney’s characters
accept them so casually scandalised many audience members. How could
you help a modern audience realise this?
• How will you want Helen to be acted once she moves back in?
• How do you want the audience to feel about Geof when he decides to
leave? How will you achieve this?
• How will you make use of lighting to create the mood of the act, and to
help create the climax of the play?
• How will you use the actors’ body language and facial expressions to show
the relationship between Helen and Jo once Helen has come back to live?
18
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
Notes
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
19
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
20
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Section B
Acting roles
Helen
Helen is a bully, frequently making threats of physical violence against Jo;
she demands her own way, despising everyone else’s opinions, choices and
values; she is, by the standards of the time, immoral in her sexual behaviour;
she drinks too much; she shows Jo no affection at all; she seems unconcerned
about what Jo does or how she will live, apart from an occasional brief hope
that she won’t ‘spoil her life’ by following in her own footsteps; she
abandons Jo in order to go off with a man; her only interest in men is money;
she is disorganised, lacking in direction and weak. Yet when she has access to
Peter’s money she does seem keen to offer some to Jo (though Jo reco gnises
that she is likely to forget her promise); she is even willing to take Jo into her
new home – until Peter opposes the plan and she withdraws the offers of
money and accommodation in order to stick with him; she is racist, not only
shocked that Jo has become pregnant to a black man but making thoroughly
unpleasant jokes about the baby; she is homophobic, hostile to Geof and
joking about his apparent sexual preferences (though her prejudice is based
on his appearance and his interests rather than on an y evidence that he is
actually gay); she blames society for her poverty when, in fact, it is due to the
flaws in her own character; at the end of the play she pretends to have come
back to look after Jo but in fact she has been thrown out by Peter and she has
nowhere else to go; she is aggressive in her treatment of Geof and his gifts.
So, does she have any redeeming features? Not many: she is witty; she has
some awareness of her own failings; occasionally she shows a little concern
for Jo.
With so little on one side of the balance and so much on the other, it is a real
challenge for an actor to make Helen in any way a sympathetic character.
Jo
Jo has inherited many of her mother’s weaknesses: she has a tendency to
drift, rather than make a determined effort to achieve something; she has little
ambition; she is ready to settle for less than she deserves, becoming engaged
to the Boy even though she knows he will probably never come back to her;
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
21
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
she has outbursts of temper – smashing the doll, attacking Peter, falling out
with Geof; accepting the abusive relationship with her mother.
But she has strengths that her mother lacks: she has a higher standard of
personal morality; she is capable of affection; she has some artistic talent,
though lacking the drive to make the most of it; she has no prejudices against
blacks or gays; she gets herself a job.
It is a difficult but rewarding part to play, especially for a young actress who
can sympathise with Jo’s teenage insecurities and confusions. These are
particularly well-drawn in the play – not surprisingly, since Shelagh Delaney
was herself still a teenager when she wrote the play. In addition, the actor
must explore the complexities of Jo’s relationship with her mother, constantly
changing, always emotionally draining. At one extreme she hates the sight of
her; at the other she longs to be with her; in between, she is sometimes the
child craving affection and sometimes a mother figure to Helen, looking out
for her, protective of her, knowing her weaknesses.
Geof
Geof is perhaps the most sympathetic character in the play: he is caring,
concerned and gentle; he has interests traditionally seen as feminine,
especially in the 1950s – making baby clothes, keeping the flat tidy, cooking,
looking forward to caring for the baby. As a result, he is assumed to be gay
by all the other characters but he never admits to it himself. In fact, he has
strong sexual feelings for Jo, forcing a kiss on her. He offers to marry her but
seems to accept her rejection quite calmly. He accepts the role that Jo invents
for him – an old woman, sexless, old-fashioned, trustworthy. His decision to
leave at the end of the play hurts him deeply but he knows that Helen will not
go away and he realises that the three of them living together wou ld create
tensions that would be bad for Jo. He is giving up everything he longs for –
the pseudo-marriage, the baby, the comfortable relationship, the opportunity
to care for Jo and the baby – in order to protect her from hassle.
Peter
Helen has few redeeming features; Peter has none at all. He is a bully; he is
prejudiced; he is a drunk; he is a womaniser. He marries Helen in spite of
having, Jo believes, a string of other women. He throws her out as soon as he
finds someone more attractive. Why does he fancy Helen? She is ten years
older than he is; she has no money; she is aggressive; she is clearly after his
money; she is no longer physically attractive. Yet he marries her, spends
lavishly on her and puts up with her aggression. Although he is a bully, he is
not frightening: Jo and Geof both stand up to him.
22
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
The Boy (Jimmie)
The Boy’s main function in the play is to get Jo pregnant. We don’t even
learn his name until almost the end of the play. Yet he is not just a cipher and
he offers some attractive acting possibilities: he is cheerful, optimistic and
loving. The engagement ring may have been bought in Woolworths, as he
claims, but at least he has gone to the trouble of getting one. Is he sincere in
his promises for the future? It’s possible, of cou rse, that he gives a cheap ring
to every girl he wants to bed, just as a way of buying sex (not so readily
available free in the 1950s as it is today). He does show genuine concern for
Jo, trying to do something for her cold, and saying he loves her. He en joys
teasing Jo. He is not uneducated: he quotes Shakespeare though he may know
these lines only because he identifies with the black Othello.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
23
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Recommended acting pieces
Page reference: 16–22 (Act 1, Scene 1)
Opening line:
‘Oh! My God! Look what the wind’s blown in.
What do you want?’
Closing line:
‘Come on.’
Casting: 1 male and 2 females
Characters: Helen, Jo and Peter
Approximate length: 8 minutes
Comments: The scene reveals Peter’s bullying, brashness and sexuality. He
is unpleasant to Jo and sexually aggressive towards Helen. Helen starts the
scene showing real antagonism towards Peter but is won over by his offer of
marriage. Jo is openly opposed to the relationship and the enmity between
her and Peter is clear to see. It is a difficult scene to play because the three
characters are sniping at each other; there is no sign of affection. Jo’s
unfriendliness towards Peter is partly because she feels she is protecting her
mother but she also resents the way he bosses her around. The scene sho uld
sparkle with barely suppressed hostility.
Page reference: 22–26 (Act 1, Scene 2)
Opening line:
‘I’d better go in now. Thanks for carrying my books.’
Closing line:
‘Because you’re daft.’
Casting: 1 male and 1 female
Characters: Jo and the Boy (Jimmie)
Approximate length: 6 minutes
Comments: A subtle scene, with much being revealed through body
language, facial expression and pauses rather than the text. The relationship
between these two is complex – they seem at times to be children, playing
with the toy car; yet there is an underlying sexuality which is much more
mature. There is a teasing, gentle humour in the scene which helps to
establish the nature of the relationship. Jo responds to his obvious
admiration for her and her need for affec tion traps her too easily into saying
she loves him.
24
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Page reference: 29–35 (Act 1, Scene 2)
Opening line:
‘There’s his photograph.’
Closing line:
‘Upset? I’m not upset. I just want to get the hell out
of this black hole of Calcutta.’
Casting: 1 male and 2 female
Characters: Peter, Helen and Jo
Approximate length: 9 minutes
Comments: Jo is upset at the news that Helen is to marry Peter. She is,
therefore, rude to her mother and unpleasant to Peter. There is a difficult
moment to perform when Jo suddenly attacks Peter, physically. She is angry
and hysterical. The scene that follows between the two of them is more
savage than it appears on the surface; she is trying to undermine him and he
is determined to put her in her place. They reach a kin d of truce with the
offer of a cigarette. Helen is too wrapped up in her own preparations to
notice what is going on between the other two. She has no interest in how Jo
is feeling or how she will live on her own.
Page reference: 36–39 (Act 1, Scene 2)
Opening line:
‘Jo!’
Closing line:
‘I like it.’
Casting: 1 male and 1 female
Characters: Jo and the Boy (Jimmie)
Approximate length: 5 minutes
Comments: This is a tender yet sad scene. Jo is being offered the affection
that she craves: the Boy ministers to her cold and gives her the assurance
she needs, telling her that she isn’t at all like her mother. But both are aware
of the imminent parting. Jo even accepts that he may never come back but at
this moment it doesn’t matter because she needs him n ow. It is a scene
without passion, though they are moving towards Jo’s first experience of
sex. It is the nearest to relaxed contentment that Jo ever experiences in the
course of the play.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
25
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Page reference: 40–45 (Act 1, Scene 2)
Opening line:
‘Where did you put my shoes? Did you clean ’em?
Oh! They’re on my feet. Don’t stand there sniffing,
Jo. Use a handkerchief.’
Closing line:
‘Good luck, Helen.’
Casting: 2 female
Characters: Helen and Jo
Approximate length: 6 minutes
Comments: A challenging scene. The mood changes every few minutes. It
begins with Helen’s usual helpless nagging but suddenly blows up into
violence over the ring. Helen hurts Jo’s neck and screams at her in fury. Then
there is a quieter moment of self-awareness as Helen admits her regrets at her
own mistakes and her hope that Jo can avoid them. She goes as far as hinting
at an apology, taking the blame for giving Jo the cold and for hurting her
neck. The nearest she can come to showing contrition is to offer Jo some
whisky. This develops into an almost companionable exchange that has some
humour in it, over heaven and hell. Then Jo accidentally opens a can of
worms by asking about her father. Helen is dismissive and condescending
about him, inadvertently arousing fears in Jo ab out the possibility that she
may have inherited madness from her father. The mood changes again as they
have a discussion, more like friends than mother and daughter, about Helen’s
first husband. In the greatest show of affection that we ever see in her sh e
asks Jo to kiss her but Jo refuses, bitterly telling her to keep her kisses for
Peter. The scene ends poignantly with Jo admitting that she doesn’t care one
way or the other if Helen goes – but she does wish her luck – twice. At least
nine changes of mood in a short scene – hard work for the actors.
26
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Page reference: 47–51 (Act 2, Scene 1)
Opening line:
‘I’ll put the light on.’
Closing line:
‘No, but if I had I’d give it all to you. I’d give
everything I had to you. Here, have a biscuit. You’ll
like these. They taste like dog food.’
Casting: 1 male and 1 female
Characters: Jo and Geof
Approximate length: 6 minutes
Comments: A scene of subtle, often unspoken, feelings and emotions, a kind
of parallel to the Jo/The Boy scene in Act 1 Scene 2. Jo’s intelligent
awareness of other people is shown in the way the dialogue develops between
her and Geof: she asks leading questions, to which he offers a denial, but she
carries on as if he had said ‘Yes’ – and he accepts this. Either he has been
trying to mislead her or he has decided just to agree with anything she says.
But when she tries to elicit details of gay behaviour from him, he becomes
angry and threatens to leave. Delaney doesn’t make it clear whether Geof is
gay or not; the actor must decide how to play it. He is quite critical of Jo’s
drawings, which worries her – ‘Do you really think they’re sentimental?’ He
reveals his worries about how she will cope with the baby and offers to help.
When she shows that she is feeling depressed he manages to cheer her up and
the extract ends on a cheerful, excited note.
The actor playing Geof must show his developing concern and care for Jo
while she gradually relaxes with him and allows him to cheer her up. Her
promise, ‘I’d give everything I had to you’, recalls her scene with the Boy
and again reveals her vulnerability, so desperate for affection that at the
slightest sign of it she is ready to give too much in return.
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
27
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES
Page reference: 60–64 (Act 2, Scene 1)
Opening line:
‘What blew you in?’
Closing line:
‘You should have known. You’re nothing to me.’
Casting: 2 female (plus Geof read in)
Characters: Jo and Helen
Approximate length: 6 minutes
Comments: A typical Delaney three-part argument where allegiances are
constantly shifting. Geof is put on the defensive by both women because he
has asked Helen to visit. Helen doesn’t want anything to do with Jo and her
pregnancy, because she foresees nothing but trouble for her if she gets
involved. Helen threatens to give Jo ‘a hiding’ and Jo insists that she’s
capable of looking after herself without Helen’s help. The argument becomes
very bitter, each shouting unpleasant home truths at the other; they are very
alike at moments like this. Geof tries to keep the peace but is shouted down.
Helen claims that they enjoy shouting at each other. Is this true? Or is it true
of Helen but not of Jo? Unexpectedly Helen has brought money for Jo. Is this
an attempt to buy her allegiance? Or is she buying control over Jo and the
baby? Or is she just showing off her new wealth? Jo remains untouched by
the gesture, refusing the money and saying that Helen means nothing to her.
28
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
FURTHER READING AND VIEWING
Section C
Further reading
A Taste of Honey enjoyed remarkable success when it first appeared but
Delaney’s later works did not have the same popular and critical appeal. As a
result not much has been published about her or her play. There are some
short articles in the standard theatrical reference books. This list is arranged
in order of usefulness:
Lacey, S, British Realist Theatre: The New Wave in Its Context 1956–1965,
London: Routledge, 1995
Aston, E, Reinelt, J (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Modern British
Women Playwrights, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000
Gale, M B, West End Women: Women and the London Stage 1 918–1962,
London: Routledge, 1996
Rogers, D, McLeod, J (eds), Revisions of Englishness, Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 2004
Banham, M (ed), The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995
Marcus, L, Nicholls, P (eds), The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century
English Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006
29
FURTHER READING AND VIEWING
A Taste of Honey – the film version
There is also a black-and-white film version of A Taste of Honey, made in
1961 and now available as a DVD (Bfi Video Publishing 2002). It was
directed by Tony Richardson who also wrote the film script with Shelagh
Delaney. Though true to the intentions of the play Richardson has made
some significant changes: the film is opened out to include more characters
and a wide range of settings, many of them consciously picturesque – a
religious parade, Salford street and dock scenes, a trip to Blackpool
sideshows, the countryside, a fair, caves. The Boy (now Jimmy from
Liverpool rather than Jimmie from Cardiff) is a cook on a merchant ship
rather than a naval rating; Jo moves to a new flat before she meets Geof; we
see Jo as a not-very-well-behaved school pupil; Peter has a glass eye, not a
patch; Jo mourns over a dead bird, not dead bulbs. Many interesting lines are
lost, since the film script is very much shorter than the stage version: no
Othello, no Oedipus, no Puritanical husband.
However, the most important change is in the characterisation: Helen is
softer, more sentimental as played by Dora Bryan. She doesn’t tear the ring
off Jo’s neck, for example, her most violent act in the original. The worst of
her racism is removed entirely and much of the fighting between daughter and
mother is made to seem teenage Jo’s fault. Peter, too, though still unpleasant,
lacks the nasty edge which he has in the play. The roles of Geof and Jimmy,
and their relationships with Jo, remain much as they are in the play. Though
still dark, the film seems jollier than the play.
Helen seems almost sympathetic at the end, comfortingly o ffering to make Jo
a cup of tea; but meanwhile we watch the tragic figure of Geof walking away
– back to the life where he didn’t care whether he lived or died.
30
A TASTE OF HONEY (HIGHER, DRAMA)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2006