THE TAMING OF THE SHREW – REVIEW OF ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s most challenging plays to produce. It was written in a different age and we make allowances for that. But the mistreatment, abuse, humiliation, debasement and almost dehumanization of a woman is unacceptable in any age.

Directors have tried to find ways around it and some have been more successful than others. Director Justin Audibert has hit on the idea of gender change. The men become women and vice versa. Baptista (Amanda Harris) who has two daughters to marry becomes a mother with two sons, Katherine (Joseph Arkley) and Bianco (James Cooney) to send to the altar.

Bianco’s suitors are Hortensia (Amelia Donkor), Gremia (Sophie Stanton) and Lucentia (Emily Johnstone). Katherine is wooed by Petruchia (Claire Price) and the rest of the male characters including most of the servants become women and the reverse.

 Claire Price as Petruchia and Joseph Arkley as Katherine. Photo: Ikin Yum Photography/RSC

Aside from Petruchio’s treatment of the shrew Katherine as he “tames” her, the play has numerous comic scenes and Audibert exploits them all for laughter. Lucentia changes places with his servant Trania (Laura Elsworthy) in order to pretend that she is a tutor and thus gain access to Bianco. When Lucentia needs her mother Vincentia (Melody Brown) to negotiate the marriage settlement, she gets the merchant Pedant (Hannah Azuonye) to pretend that she is her mother. Then her real mother arrives with hilarious consequences.     

The old fool Gremia woos the young Bianco and the clever servants know how to survive their masters in the best tradition of comedy. You should see Sophie Stanton glide across the stage! Audibert has the fine cast do justice to all these complications.

Claire Price with a big orange wig perched on her head looks almost androgynous as Petruchia and once she begins her taming mission is relentless. A domineering and marvellous performance. Arkley’s clean-cut Katherine does not stand a chance against that virago. James Cooney as Bianco looks almost effeminate with his long hair while Emily Johnstone as Lucentia is not to be trifled with.

Richard Clews as Petruchia’s servant Grumio is hilarious as is Amy Trigg as Lucentia’s servant Biondella. Laura Elsworthy as Trania is also up there.

Audibert does away with the induction scene, the framing device using Christopher Sly. It can be put to good use but it can also prove to be a bore. 

The company of Taming of the Shrew. Photo: Ikin Yum Photography/RSC

The program tells us that the play is set in the 1590s where “society is a matriarchy.” The gorgeous costumes are sixteenth century chic and there is no attempt to allude to current events or attitudes. Hannah Clark gets full marks for the costumes that are a pleasure to watch. Women are the dominant sex, of course. For most of the production this seemed like a pleasant change. We are quite used to hearing about abused women and perhaps some men may be shocked by seeing chauvinist pigs get their comeuppance but it has its fun side.

But it is difficult to swallow the play lock stock and barrel. There is no attempt to lessen the impact of abuse and humiliation meted on Katherine. He just takes it. Some irony, some indication of love to make us aware that there is hope for the couple? Nothing.

Even Katherine’s final speech “Fie, fie! Unknit that threat'ning unkind brow/ And dart not scornful glances from those eyes/ To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor” is spoken with fervor. There is room for some irony, a gesture, a body movement to tell us that things are not as bad as they seemed but there is none.

Aside from some qualms, this is a well-acted and superbly directed production that provides some unexpected pleasures.

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The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare played until January 18, 2020 at the Barbican Theatre, London, England. It now continues its tour in Canterbury, Plymouth, Nottingham, Newcastle and Blackpool on various dates. Full details here:  https://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/The Norman Conquests (2013)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press

MEASURE FOR MEASURE - REVIEW OF ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Gregory Doran, the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company has assigned the production of Measure for Measure to himself, a difficult play to direct especially in the current atmosphere. More about this later.

Doran places the play in early twentieth century Vienna, a city of culture and style but also of prostitution and debauchery. The production opens in a hall where gentlemen in smart officers’ uniforms waltz with ladies in long, elegant gowns. The Duke of Vienna halts the dancing and proceeds to assign his duties to the strict and puritanical Angelo in order to tighten up the morality of the city. Brothels are flourishing, sexual licentiousness is out of control and something must be done. The easy-going Duke will “leave” so that Angelo will have a free hand to enforce the law.

Doran has a strong cast. The key players are the novice nun Isabella and the Tartuffian hypocrite Angelo. When Isabella goes to plead for the release of her brother Claudio who had been condemned to death for impregnating his fiancée, Angelo proposes a quid pro quo: her virginal body for her brother’s release.  

Lucy Phelps and Sandy Grierson in Measure for Measure.  Photo: Helen Maybanks.

Lucy Phelps is a superb Isabella. She is modestly attractive and innocent (making her more desirable). She resists with admirable tenacity and is put through hell for reasons unknown. Sandy Grierson as Angelo is the pillar of virtue and the paragon of slime exudes righteousness and practices Weinsteinesque sexual morality. He is frightful in his abuse of power and certainty that he is invincible. No one would believe his accuser.

Antony Byrne as the Duke is always difficult to fathom. Byrne plays him as a somewhat light-hearted character who means well but lacks a few points in his human quotient to comprehend his actions.

The funniest person from the government side is Michael Patrick as Constable Elbow who tortures the English language but provides gales of laughter in the process. In a smaller role but also entertaining is Patrick Brennan as Abhorson the executioner who takes his profession so seriously, he considers it a mystery. Brennan also plays Friar Thomas.

The characters from the suburban brothels are more fun. Graeme Brookes in drag as the bawd Mistress Overdone is simply wonderful and hilarious. Joseph Arkley as the “fantastic” Lucio comes out as a dapper gentleman in a perfectly tailored suit, silk scarf and spats. That’s the surface. Underneath he is a slimeball. The pimp Pompey, well dressed and wearing a bowler, is proud of his professional standing. Between the court and the brothels, we have the prison where the prisoner Bernadine (again Graeme Brooks) is permanently and uproariously drunk and the last thing he wants is to be executed or released.

Stephen Brimson Lewis’ design calls for a minimum of set props and relies on Simon Spencer’s lighting. It all works quite effectively.

I mention the lighter side of the production that Doran pays attention to because this is a play that needs humour very badly. After all Measure for Measure is classified as a comedy but there are issues, especially in the final act, that are no laughing matter.

Lucy Phelps and James Cooney as Isabella and Claudio. Photo:Helen Maybanks/RSC

Disentangling the plot lines of Measure for Measure is a bit problematic partly because the Duke wants all to be resolved in public right at the end of the play. It is a play and dramatic necessities require a certain structure. It was written some 400 years ago and it is unadvisable to judge it by today’s standards. But times are different. Prince Andrew had sex with a 17-year old purchased for him by a billionaire and he denies it, insisting that a photograph taken of him with the girl is fake. Harvey Weinstein abused dozens of women while in a position of power and he denies it all saying it was consensual.

Near the end of Measure when Isabella accuses Angelo of trying to seduce her, he denies it and the Duke (pretends) to go along with it. No, Angelo could not possibly have done that. When Angelo denies having sex with Mariana (Sophie Khan Levy), his former fiancée, the same thing happens. There is a frightful consistency is there not?

The final resolution has the same problems. The despicable Angelo has to marry Mariana

because he had sex with her. The dashing Lucio has to marry the nicely named Kate

Keepdown who walks on stage with baby carriage. She gets a laugh and so do we. Finally, the Duke extends his hand in an offer of marriage to Isabella. She does not respond.

All of this is done at the expense of the women. Perhaps, If, I may coin a phrase, we can have our cake and eat it too, we can be aware of its social implications and enjoy a fine production of a problematic play.

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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare played until January 18, 2020 at the Barbican Theatre, London, England. It now continues its tour in Canterbury, Plymouth, Nottingham, Newcastle and Blackpool on various dates. Full details here:  https://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/The Norman Conquests (2013)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press

MY BRILLIANT FRIEND – REVIEW OF NATIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

My Brilliant Friend is a play performed in two parts over five and a half hours, less two 20-minute intermissions at the National Theatre in London It is based Elena Ferrante’s four volumes of fiction collectively called her Neapolitan Novels adapted for the stage by April De Angelis.

The play has some forty characters with “other parts played by members of the company.” The company consists of twenty-three actors and that gives you a hint of the scope of the two parts of the play.

The play takes place in Naples after World War II and it covers the period up to Silvio Berlusconi’s presidency if not even later. That is a long time in the lives of a lot of people but Ferrante spreads her story much more widely than just covering the lives of a handful of main characters with the rest appearing in supporting roles.

She wants to cover numerous aspects of the history of Naples and indeed Italy during that time frame from the personal lives and the relationships of some of the main characters, to social changes, political upheavals, justice and, crucially, the position of women. You can assume that their position was bad.

 Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack. Photo: Marc Brenner 

We are dealing with a poorer neighbourhood of Naples and the following families are identified. The Greco family is of prime importance because Elena (Niamh Cusack), the daughter of the porter Vittorio (Martin Hyder) is one of the main characters in the play. She has a mother, two younger brothers and a sister and they play variously important roles in the action.

The Cerullo family is of equal importance to the Grecos because Lila (Catherine McCormack), the daughter of shoemaker Fernando (Martin Hyder), is the friend of Elena. The friendship between the two women is the most important personal story of the play as it goes through various permutations. Nunzia (Badria Timini) is Lila’s mother and she has a brother Rino (David Judge) who plays an important part in the numerous stories of the play.

The Carracci family occupies the very important position as a representative of organized crime. The head of the family Don Achille (Al Nedjari) disappears early but his sons Stefano (Jonah Russell) and Alfonso (Colin Ryan) remain until the end of both parts of the play. Stefano marries Lila and brutally rapes her on their wedding night.

The Cappuccio family is a working-class trio with Melina (Amiera Darwish), a mentally deranged cleaner, her son Antonio (Justin Avoth) the car mechanic with a romantic interest in Elena, and daughter Ada (Lizabeth Mary Williams).

The Sarratore family consists of Nino (Ben Turner), a school friend of Elena’s and Lila’s and his parents Donato (Al Nedjari) and Lidia (Kazrena James). Nino falls in love with Lila after her disastrous marriage to Stafano. Donato has sex with Elena.

The Solara family is another trio of criminals consisting of the brutal Manuala (Emily Mytton) and her two sons Marcello (Ira Mandela Siobhan) and Michele (Adam Burton).

 A scene from My Brilliant Friend. Photo: Marc Brenner

Elena and Lila are attractive women and they go through several partners and have a rocky relationship between them. Elena becomes a successful novelist while Lila is not permitted to pursue higher education and ends up working in a sausage factory. It is a horrible job where she is sexually abused. The relationship of the two women is the most important aspect of the play.

With organized crime present, there are a few shootings. The politics of fascism and communism are present as is the fight for workers’ rights, strikes, brutal treatment and general injustice. Ferrante/De Angelis try to paint life in Italy on a huge canvas.

The play is organized around short scenes broken by rear stage projections, moments of music or songs, dancing, strobe lights and the like. Watching student or workers’ demonstrations, work in a slaughterhouse and numerous other clips made no sense. There are too many stories over a very lengthy time frame and it was not possible to keep track of every plot strand or who is who and who did what to whom.  

The set by Soutra Gilmour consisted of several mobile ladders that were frequently repositioned on the stage. The twenty or so actors were brought on stage frequently and the ladders provided a place to run up on or around. After all, the play represents a part of a city and not just a few individuals.  

The production struck me as too ambitious by a half. Bringing that many characters and that many stories even within five hours is unwieldy and impossible to focus on.

I must add unstinting praise for the acting especially of Cusack and McCormack. Cusack was on the stage almost all the time and she had to go through numerous emotional ranges. McCormack did superb work in a role that makes enormous demands.

Director Melly Still has a huge job to do and significant credit is due to her for being able to keep the whole thing moving.        

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My Brilliant Friend, Parts 1 and 2 based on Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels adapted by April De Angelis continues until February 22, 2020 at the national Theatre, South Bank, The Norman Conquests (2013)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann

London, England.  http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press

AS YOU LIKE IT - REVIEW OF ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Royal Shakespeare Company never seems to rest. Its main season is in Stratford-upon-Avon beginning in the spring and ending sometime in the fall but the show goes on with productions touring around the country. In the meantime there are shows still playing in Stratford.

I was able to catch up with several productions in their stopover in London at the Barbican Theatre

As You Like It, one of Shakespeare’s most wonderful comedies of love, gets a joyful, marvelously acted and brilliantly directed production. Its main vehicle is Shakespeare’s language. Director Kimberley Sykes and a fine cast want us to hear every word of the play, pronounced immaculately and properly. The actors are aware of the poetry and beauty of the text and want us to enjoy it. We do.

 

Sophie Khan Levy and Lucy Phelps in As You Like It. Photo:Topher McGrillis. ©RSC

But there is much more than that. As You Like It is about the pursuit of love in various manifestations. Yes, there are political issues of usurpation, social issues of life in Arcadia or Arden in this case and the like. But the driving force of the play is love.

We see the cousins Rosalind and Celia go to the Forest of Arden disguised as Ganymede and Aliena. Duke Senior was deposed by his nasty brother Duke Frederick and went off to the Forest of Arden for a life of contentment. He has a colourful group of companions and is joined by his daughter Rosalind and his brother’s daughter Celia. They will seek love.

There are shepherds and shepherdesses who are just as eager for love and we will run into a delightful combination of pursuers and pursued. Shakespeare provides it all and all you need is a fine cast to deliver and delight.

Lucy Phelps who plays Rosalind and is disguised as Ganymede will pretend that she is Rosalind so that Orlando (David Ajao) will woo her. He has been thrown out by his evil brother Oliver (Leo Wan) and loves Rosalind to distraction but where is she? Phelps is energetic, comic, and just plain wonderful. We know where that plot strand leads but we enjoy watching it.

Sophie Khan Levy is a beautiful and splendid-voiced Celia, a lovely modern woman.   

Sandy Grierson, Sophie Stanton and Charlotte Arrowsmith.  Photo:Topher McGrillis. ©RSC

The rustics are even more fun. William (Tom Dawze) loves Audrey (Charlotte Arrowsmith) but she loves Touchstone (Sandy Grierson). Silvia (Amelia Donkor) loves Phoebe (Laura Elsworthy) who loves Ganymede. Celia falls in love with the reformed Oliver. Yes, there are a few gender changes. Silvius of the original becomes Silvia; Amiens, usually a male role, is played by Emily Johnstone who also plays Le Beau. Jacques is played by Sophie Stanton. (A minor complaint about her delivery of The Seven Ages of Man. Speech. She needed to speak a bit more loudly and add some life into it.)

The gender swapping works very well because at the end of the play The Duke’s attendants are paired off and Audrey who did not like Silvius may be happier with Sylvia.

 

The production is done with the minimum of sets and props.  In the opening scenes there is only a large green rug which is made into a wrestling rink for Orlando and Charles the Wrestler (Graeme Brookes). Judicious use of lighting produces the impression of a forest without much fuss. But there is a gigantic puppet of Hymen in the end to help with the marriages (it is his job after all)

Sykes does not hesitate to use the audience to evoke laughter, but it is done judiciously providing in all a highly enjoyable night at the theatre.

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As You Like It by William Shakespeare continues until January 18, 2020 at the Barbican Theatre, London, England. It then continues its tour to Canterbury, Plymouth, Nottingham, Newcastle and Blackpool on various dates. Full details here:  https://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/The Norman Conquests (2013)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press

A KIND OF PEOPLE – REVIEW OF BHATTI’S PLAY AT ROYAL COURT THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

All white people must be racists (?). All blacks must be victims of racism (?).

These are two of the questions or, if you will, issues raised by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti in A Kind of People now playing at the Royal Court Theatre in London. It is a powerful play with some outstanding acting that that is riveting in every respect.

Bhatti starts her play with a happy gathering to celebrate the birthday of a friend. It is a racially mixed crowd. The hosts are a happily married couple, Nicky (white) and her husband Gary (black).

The guests are Mo (Pakistani) and his wife Anjum, also Pakistani who wears a hijab more as a sword than an expression of devotion to her Muslim faith. Gary’s sister Karen cares more about having a good time than any racial or social issues. Mark (white) is Gary’s co-worker and seems like a decent guy but you may wish to reserve judgment on him

But there is a surprise guest, Victoria, Gary’s boss, drops in. and proceeds to get drunk. She makes some clearly racist gestures and leaves. 

The cast of A Kind of People. Photo: Manuel Harlan

The people in the play have far more than racial problems. There is the issue of upward social mobility. Gary and Nicky live in subsidized (council) housing and are dreaming of him getting a promotion to be able to buy a house. They are struggling to get their children in better schools as a steppingstone to a better life.

The clash comes when Gary does not get the promotion and is convinced that he was rejected because of Victoria’s racism. His relationship with Nicky falters and his whole world collapses. 

The deterioration of Nicky and Gary’s world culminates in an extraordinary emotional climax that leaves the audience stunned. There is a brief epilogue and I will not disclose its content.

Claire-Louise Cordwell as Nicky gives a performance of enormous depth and power. Her love for Gary and devotion to her children is immeasurable. When her father found out that she was in love with a black man he beat her up and broke two of her ribs. Cordwell displays Nicky’s power to withstand anything in defence of her family and her dreams of a better life. In the climactic scene she is simply heart-wrenching.

Richie Campbell as Gary is a man of pride and principal. He is unwilling to compromise those characteristics but he does not realize that pride can become arrogance and failure to embrace realism over principal in the face of self-destruction makes no sense. We see all of that brilliantly conveyed by Campbell in his bravura performance.

Gary’s boss Victoria, impeccably played by Amy Morgan, displays the cool, fair-minded white person who can hide her racism under a veneer of good conduct. She is the most dangerous racist of them all.

Claire-Louise Cordwell and Richie Campbell. Photo: Manuel Harlan

Petra Letang is a pleasure to watch as Karen, the free-spirited sister of Gary.

The hijab wearing Anjum played by Manjinder Virk shows another way of dealing with racists. She knows she can’t win so she says to hell with them. She fights them by sticking to her own kind, thumbing her nose at them and beating them wherever she can.

Gary’s friend Mark played well as a clown with a dark side by Thomas Coompbes is white and a supporter of his buddy. But watch out.    

Anna Fleischie’s set of a kitchen and living room for Gary and Nicky’s apartment is easily changed to Victoria’s office and a staff room and is suitable.

Kudos to director Michael Buffong for expert handling of the cast and the pace of the production and providing us with an extraordinary night at the theatre.      

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A Kind of People by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti continues until January 18, 2020 at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS. Box office: 020 7565 5000. www.royalcourttheatre.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press

ANTIGONE – REVIEW OF HOLY WHAT THEATRE PRODUTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Lulu Raczka is a young English playwright who has tackled a part of the great myth of the Royal House of Thebes dealing with the rebellious Antigone. Her play Antigone is “after Sophocles” but Raczka puts her own stamp on the work.

Raczka’s Antigone has only two characters, the sisters Antigone and Ismene as teenagers at an undetermined time. In the small New Diorama Theatre, the play begins with slow, pounding, bass music. There is a mound in front of us full of dirt. We see two figures rise out of the dirt and shake if off. They are Antigone (Annabel Baldwin) and Ismene (Rachel Hosker).

Rachel Hosker and Annabel Baldwin. Photo: Ali Wright

The somber scene is quickly dispelled as the two teenagers start dancing wildly and erotically. The opening dialogue is about having fun, sex (“can you take it hard?), and drinking. The innocent Ismene wants to know “what it’s it like.”   

Through the girlish chatter and enthusiasms, the story of Creon, King Oedipus and Jocasta begins to emerge. The girls’ brothers Eteocles and Polyneices who were supposed to rule Thebes in rotation after Oedipus have gone to war because one of them refused to pass the throne to the other when his turn was up. The dethroned brother raised an army and attacked Thebes. Both brothers were killed, and their uncle Creon has taken over.

The war is over now and people are relieved and want to celebrate. But there is some unfinished business. Creon has forbidden anyone from giving the “bad” brother Polyneices who raised an army and attacked Thebes burial or any last rites. The “good” brother Eteocles who fought with Creon is a hero who deserves a military funeral full of honors.

Antigone decides to bury Polyneices despite the clear threat by Creon to kill anyone who does it. The main conflict of the Antigone story is joined as the two sisters argue about the burial. Antigone, as we all know, buries Polyneices simply because everyone deserves a decent burial. We may translate that as a fundamental human right that Ismene simply does not espouse or know anything about.

The sisters go through various permutations of the arguments for and against the “illegal” burial of their brother.

Much of the dialogue consists of short, clipped sentences many having one or two words.  It follows the level of teenagers where the word “like” appears where it has no business to be except in Teengliah.

Photo: Ali Wright

The story cannot be told without involving other people. The men in the bar and the involvement of Haemon are dealt by Ismene and Antigone speaking what they would have said.

The play ends with a long and somber speech by Ismene. She tells us the usual highs and lows of human existence from having sex, to picking up men, to marriage, children and friendships. But she cannot get past the fate of Antigone and her own role in it.  She imagines the end of her life and her greatest fear is facing Antigone.

The story of  Antigone’s sacrifice and her disobedience of a human law in obedience to something higher as told by Sophocles is reduced to the language and emotional and intellectual range of two teenagers. Antigone does what she feels is right with perhaps little understanding of why she is doing it.

The most rewarding part of the evening is the superb performances by Baldwin and Hosker. They are on stage for almost an hour and a half in a small circle full of dirt. They have mastered the parts and deliver their lines clearly and sharply. Antigone is the dominant character and Baldwin asserts that dominance well. Hosker as Ismene is the less imposing character who tries to find a solution (and lose her virginity) so that her sister can survive.

It is an interesting take on the Antigone myth.

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Antigone by Lulu Raczka, directed by Adi Pidsley in a production by Holy What Theatre continues until February 1, 2020 at the New Diorama Theatre, London, England. www.newdiorama.com/whats-on/antigone. 

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James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press.

A TASTE OF HONEY – REVIEW OF NATIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The appearance and success of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey became a theatrical legend almost from the beginning. A 19-year old woman from a working-class background, with little education and almost no knowledge of theatre wrote a play about people on the bottom rung of the social ladder. She sent the script to the legendary Joan Littlewood and the play was presented by the Theatre Workshop in Stratford. Not Stratford-upon-Avon but the suburb of London.

It was a smashing success and was made into a film. Delaney continued writing but she never duplicated the success of A Taste of Honey. She died in 2011.

The play has been revived by the National Theatre in a superbly acted production that also contains some interesting choices by director Bijan Sheibani.

The plot involves the lives of Helen (Jodi Prenger), a buxom, crude woman described by Delaney as a “semi-whore,” her daughter Jo (Gemma Dobson) and several men who enter their lives. They live in a dump in Manchester, near a slaughterhouse and a smelly river. The two women show contempt for each other but there are suggestions of affection. There are indications of artistic talent that was quashed by poverty and life choices. 

Gemma Dobson, Tom Varey and Jodie Prenger. Photo: Marc Brenner

There are three men in their lives. Peter (Tom Varey), a car salesman, is one of Helen’s customers. Jimmie (Durone Stokes) is a black sailor who promises marriage and leaves Jo pregnant. Geoffrey is a decent young man who happens to be homosexual.

It is a richly textured play with numerous undertones in its description of the horrors and degradation of poverty and the strength to survive it however by any means available.

The issue of the production is the choices made by director Bijan Sheibani. The play begins with Helen and Jo arriving at the cold and dreary apartment in a slum of Manchester. Sheibani does not find that satisfactory and he has the play open in a pub. There is a band playing jazz music and Helen drinks and sings. When she finishes her song, a large crew rushes on the stage with the furniture for the apartment and Delaney’s opening lines are heard. The stage crew is used several times to move props on and off the stage.

There are many references to music in the play but there is no mention of a band staying on the stage throughout the performance. This is what Sheibani does. The musicians do nothing most of the time, but they do play a few bars here and there. In one scene change, Geoff does a sizeable song and dance routine for which I can find no explanation. The musicians add nothing, but they do change the tenor of the play which you may classify as slightly annoying or ridiculous.

The production is saved by outstanding performances. Jodie Prenger delivers a Helen who is sluttish, selfish, crude and odious. Her maternal instinct, to the extent that it exists, appears infrequently and it is rebuffed by her daughter. A stellar performance.

 Stuart Thompson and Gemma Dobson. Photo: Marc Brenner

Gemma Dobson’s Jo is a pathetic teenager who hates her mother and is looking for something or someone that she is not even sure of. We feel sorry her for her without liking her and are never quite sure why or if we dislike her. Dobson’s finely balanced performance is a pleasure to watch.

Tom Varey as Peter is a drunk cad, the type of slimeball that brags about his conquest of women, lies about his prowess and descends to proposing marriage to a woman like Helen. She probably could be had for a few bob.

Durone Stokes as Jimmie the sailor is a “nice guy” who is looking for sex and finds the eternal formula for getting it: offer love, promise marriage, have sex and disappear. Stuart Thomson is excellent as Geoff who befriends Jo and is basically the soul of decency in an indecent situation.

The actors speak in a thick Manchester accent that is not always comprehensible to the untuned ear. There were times when I had to strain to understand what was being said and looked for surtitles.

The creation of A Taste of Honey is a marvelous story of an almost instantaneous eruption of talent in a most unlikely of places that results in marvelous theatre generations later.

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The Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney continues until February 29, 2020 at Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, The Norman Conquests (2013)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann

London, England.  http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press