Sweetness with a Sting: A Taste of Honey Packs a Punch when at Stantonbury Theatre until Saturday 17th May

by Shahnaz (Shiny) Hussain

Helen chilling at the flat

A Taste of Honey was written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19. After one trip to the theatre (where she saw a rather dull middle-class drawing room drama at the Manchester Opera House), she thought, “I could do better”—and two weeks later, she had. The result was a bold, funny, and deeply moving play set in her hometown of Salford, centred on the messy, often painful, but very real relationship between a selfish mother and her teenage daughter.

What makes this play so special is how ahead of its time it was. Back in the late 1950s, it tackled issues that were rarely spoken about—class, race, sexuality, gender roles, and the age of sexual consent. It put working-class women centre stage in a way that just hadn’t been done before. And the amazing thing is: it still feels incredibly relevant today.

The Play’s The Thing has done a brilliant job with this production. It’s rich, layered, emotional, and often very funny. Caroline Nash and Tayla Kenyon are electric as Helen and Jo, the mother-daughter duo at the heart of the play. One minute you’re laughing at their biting banter, the next you’re wincing at the pain they inflict on each other. Helen admits she’s no “proper mother,” and yet there’s still a complicated bond there.

The men in their lives are brilliantly drawn, too. Peter (Alexander J C Forni) is Helen’s loud, sexist, racist boyfriend, and he’ll make your skin crawl. In contrast, Jimmie (Brian Bususu), the kind sailor Jo falls for, brings tenderness and warmth, and later, Geof (Angus Roughley), Jo’s gentle, caring friend, steps into the nurturing role Helen never managed to fill.

What Delaney does so beautifully is shine a light on people society often pushes aside—those who don’t fit in neatly, who are judged or ignored—and shows that they’re often the kindest, most human of all. Her message against prejudice is loud, clear, and still powerful.

Every element of the production is spot on. The acting is outstanding across the board. The pace, the humour, the emotional punches—it all lands. James Smith’s set design captures the bleakness of poor housing with chilling accuracy, James Tearle’s lighting adds mood and tension, Susan Lee Burton nails the period costumes, and Elliot Willis’s sound design ties everything together beautifully.

This is a must-see show, and we’re so lucky to have a company like The Play’s The Thing creating professional, thought-provoking theatre right here in Milton Keynes.

Massive congratulations to the whole team—five stars from me! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tickets are still available at the Stantonbury Theatre Box Office