ENTERTAINMENT

Students actors bring life, depth to gritty play 'A Taste of Honey' for UNCW

Bob Workmon
StarNews correspondent
Meghan McDonald (left) and Nanouri Winchester star in UNCW Theatre's production of "A Taste of Honey."

Through Sunday, the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Department of Theatre presents the final weekend of its first play of the fall semester, Shelagh Delaney's "A Taste of Honey."

Delaney's 1958 play shook up British theater, throwing the audience into the messy lives of teenage Jo and her mother, Helen. "A Taste of Honey" is cited as one of the first "kitchen sink" dramas, so named for tackling multiple issues facing post-World War II culture and society.

Helen (Meghan McDonald) and Jo (Nanouri Winchester) go into the sink along with the men who cast but a shadow in their lives: a sleazy businessman named Peter (Cole Warren), a Black sailor named Jimmie (Kareem White) and a gay man named Geoffrey (Zach Harris). All of the parts are played by UNCW theater students.

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The first act pops along under theater professor Ed Wagenseller’s direction, as mother-daughter codependency unravels in chaotic arguments. McDonald and Winchester get right the contentious dynamic between a 40-something woman who's uninterested in being a mother and her bright but neglected 17-year-old determined to carry on with life on her own terms.

McDonald's Helen bubbles on stage, conveying in manner and tone the good-time girl nearing her expiration date, charming us one moment only to fall into ugly selfishness the next. Winchester's Jo fights back against the gray uncertainty left when her mother succumbs to offers of financial support from Peter, played with oily glee by Warren.

Jimmie is a warm presence all too brief in Jo's life after Helen abandons her just before Christmas to run off with Peter, and White's portrayal fills the role beautifully. Jo becomes pregnant by Jimmie, who promises to marry her when he returns from sea.

Jo is left alone until an art student named Geof enters her life in the second act, caring for her throughout her pregnancy. That genuine affection for Jo is communicated in Harris's performance. But Geof's fondness and protectiveness cannot stop Helen's return from sending him to fend for himself in a society rife with legally sanctioned hostility toward gays.

The dingy world of working-class Manchester, England, is ably captured in the sets and lighting of Randall Enlow and Thomas Salzman. From drab school plaids to vibrant Easter-egg dresses, Mark Sorensen's costumes offer a masterclass in period design. 

The two women scramble through life's gauntlet in a world aligned against the poor, women, and anyone considered less-than. Their choices are informed by promises made and broken, and we're left brokenhearted though not entirely surprised. 

Contact StarNews arts and entertainment at 910-343-2343.

Want to go?

What: "A Taste of Honey" by Shelagh Delaney, presented by UNCW's Department of Theatre

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 1-2, 2 p.m. Oct. 3

Where: Mainstage Theatre in the Cultural Arts Building, UNCW campus

Tickets: $15; $12 for seniors, UNCW employees and alumni; $6 for students.

Details: 910-962-3500 or UNCWarts.universitytickets.com