10. A Taste of Honey - a nostalgic trip to Manchester



Yet another trip to Manchester, and this time it was to the Royal Exchange Theatre to see the iconic Manchester based play, Shelagh Delayney’s “A Taste of Honey”.

Knowing that it was on, I felt a deep emotional pull to head over to Manchester, my roots - something that seems to be happening quite a lot at the moment 😃 Its really interesting that at this point in life, I’m increasingly feeling an emotional tug to connect with my earlier life. Going to the Royal Exchange Theatre was always a treat as I was growing up - I remember that feeling of connecting with culture, with all the buzz and excitement that went with it. So stepping back inside the theatre now brought back such a huge array of memories and emotions 😃

The play is a sharply observed portrait of working class life in Salford in the late 1950s. It tells the story of  Jo, a young teenager living with her promiscuous mother Helen, moving around from one rented apartment to another as very limited funds dwindled even further. Jo is often left on her own as Helen is out drinking and socialising in the local pubs. The play incorporates key themes of complex relationships, racism, homosexuality, single parenthood and abuse, as well as unconventional yet authentic examples of love and bonding  - a true classic! 

The theatre is beautiful - a central stage surrounded by seating, and a huge colourful glass dome in the foyer. It’s definitely one of my favourite theatres 😃




It was a fabulous evening - totally enjoyed the play, and at the same time felt a strong emotional connection to my roots 😃

Comments

  1. Marie1 June 2024 at 15:01

    I can really relate to the 'pull towards your roots' Jane. In this case there's a connection for me with The Smiths Louder than Bombs album - featuring Shelagh Delaney - nostalgia and formative years 😊

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11. Bagging the wainwrights - A Lakeland day out with Marie 🥾⛰️🥵😎☀️💦

Image
Getting out on the hills walking is something which I love, and something which I have been keen to do more of. I’ve always walked, whether it be shorter walks around home, or greater challenges in more mountainous regions, particularly north west Scotland or the Lake District. One of my retirement activities has been to work my way through the Wainwright Lakeland fells. I know that I have done many over the years, but remembering exactly what I have done, and when, is a challenge 🤣 So complete with my new Wainwright Lakeland Fells map / chart, I have gradually been ticking off new conquests, only crediting past walks if I can actually remember the detail - so not many! 214 is the ultimate goal 😃 Today I had an epic planned - something completely new, and definitely not a walk I have done before - the Kentmere horseshoe 😃 I’d arranged to do this with my friend Marie, another Wainwright bagger - much more advanced than me though with her fell ticking off 🤣 We met in Kentmere, which ...
Read more

8. Culture & Politics - “How They Broke Britain”

Image
Having the privilege of more time now to pursue things of interest, attending a greater range of cultural events was high up on my list. Cultural events could of course take many forms, and pairing this with my political interests was a dream! So was extremely excited to see the newly announced book tour of James O’Brien “How they broke Britain “ Being a huge fan of James OB, and catching up with his daily phone in radio show as much as I can, I was really keen to actually hear him interviewed live and hear more of his thoughts on our current political chaos. For anyone unfamiliar with James OB, he is (now) a rather centre / left journalist / broadcaster, with a social conscience, who hosts an extremely popular radio phone in show on LBC 5 mornings a week - and quite entertainingly, he seems to have the biggest brain of anyone I have ever come across 🤣 By that I really mean his immense ability to hold, remember and string together facts and diverse pieces of information, present a coh...
Read more