A Taste of Honey NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (103)
See it if you enjoy being absorbed in a good play. you enjoy good directing and acting.
Don't see it if you only like new, edgy plays
See it if you like dramas mixed with comedy and a bit of music, honest portrayal of broken mother-daughter relationship & a teen asserting herself.
Don't see it if you don't like English-accented dramas, stories of dysfunctional mom-daughter relationships, portrayals of unwed pregnancy amidst poverty.
See it if you want to learn what the fuss is about. It's not drop-dead wonderful, but its subtle charm is that I can't get it out of my mind.
Don't see it if The Glass Menagerie is not your thing. This is almost a memory play, or at least feels like it, and for all the sorrow, the hope is there. Read more
See it if Like revivals of important plays very well produced with great jazz interwoven into it.
Don't see it if You do not like theater.
See it if You like relationship driven plays with intense, deep, sometimes disturbing outcomes.
Don't see it if If you want to see a light, fluffy play.
See it if you like realist dramas that played an important role in theatrical history. Rebekah Brockman is touching and convincing in the lead role.
Don't see it if you're looking for something light or fantastical. The play has a gritty edge, but is not without humor.
See it if you like plays set in 50's London. With live music. If you want to see a terrific actress in her breakout role- she brings ease and magic.
Don't see it if you don't like defiant love, blustery mother-daughter relationships, biracial love. Or not open to new ideas like a live jazz trio on stage. Read more
See it if This latest iteration is buoyed by the lead actress and new staging
Don't see it if Working class drama does not interest you
Critic Reviews (24)
"Jo’s fractious relationship with her mother is, in Delaney’s play, the fault of both characters...It’s a measure of Delaney’s maturity that she can create characters so complex and show the struggles of their lives so vividly…As a dream play, it’s not as easy to adjust to or as persuasive as, say, ‘The Glass Menagerie’…It has perhaps frayed a bit at the edges, but it’s still a work that continually surprises with its modern feel. The Pearl’s season opener is a welcome opportunity to see it."
Read more
"The production is long overdue, though Botchan is initially too perky, before settling nicely into the role. But Brockman is pitch-perfect as Jo, capturing her anger, vulnerability and spirit. And her friendship with Geoff, thanks to Reese’s calibrated performance, is seriously touching...Delaney had a genius for mixing a miserable set-up with humor, which keeps 'A Taste of Honey,' aided by an onstage jazz trio, an intimate, moving show."
Read more
"The cast here is uneven, and in particular the British accents come and go as they please..In 1958, 'A Taste of Honey' must have surely struck audiences as fearless...[but] the work has not aged especially well: nothing of what remains is particularly striking or moving."
Read more
"'A Taste of Honey' caused a considerable stir on the English stage in 1958. But in 2016, The Pearl has to reach for something more penetrating and insightful. The production boasts an impeccable cast...If The Pearl’s revival cannot shock us, it can certainly help us make sense of the pain, rejection, hopelessness and anger engendered when love is scant and sporadic."
Read more
"The fascinations of watching Jo make a case for why this play—which is both a revealing document of its era and at times maddeningly repetitive—deserves attention today…In Brockman's hands, Delaney's heroine is stubborn, unsentimental, and fascinatingly difficult to read…The secondary characters, though, don't offer the same intriguing complexities…Still, 'Honey' justifies its revival, offering a perspective we don't often see onstage: a working-class-female struggle to survive."
Read more
"The play may indeed make you gasp not from shock, but because of Delaney’s astonishing ability to be smart, fair-minded and even prescient...Pendleton steers his five performers into displaying the best kind of acting – which seems like no acting at all...He brings the musicians into the apartment and has two of them sit on the couch...It’s distracting — and the musicians look none too pleased to be there."
Read more
"'A Taste of Honey' has everything it needs to be a galvanizing show...However...this show lacked the electric anger and the gritty desperation that was integral to the culture at the time and is much needed to energize this production...It’s frustrating to see such a miss. If you want to see an unchallenging production of a great play, this might be for you. You might even have a few chuckles. But you won’t leave the theatre changed."
Read more
"Delaney’s a perfect storm for a director like Austin Pendleton...She forces Pendleton to keep up with her in his staging...They both win..."Botchan deploys dainty savagery and, even for those who know the play, this can seem unexpected. Impressive also is Rebekah Brockman, who gives us Jo’s poignant side, which would be expected. However, despite the weight of the milieu, she allows Delaney’s wicked humor to come through...Highly recommended."
Read more