Jill Halfpenny to star in Royal Exchange's A Taste of Honey

Jill Halfpenny will make her debut at the Royal Exchange in Manchester starring in A Taste of Honey.

Halfpenny will play Helen in the show, alongside Rowan Robinson, who is set to play her daughter, Josephine, in the seminal portrait of working-class life. Robinson is also making her Royal Exchange debut in the play.

Directed by Emma Baggott, the production opens on March 15 and runs until April 13, with a press night to be held on March 20.

Its cast is completed by David Moorst as Geoffrey, Obadiah as Jimmie, and Andrew Sheridan as Peter, with a jazz score accompanying the play to be performed by singer Nishla Smith.

The production revives Shelagh Delany’s 1950s text, famously developed by Joan Littlewood at her Theatre Workshop.

Later adapted for the cinema, the play is considered a rare interjection made by a woman writer into the scene of the "angry young men" post-war playwrights.

A Taste of Honey is a Royal Exchange production, with a creative team including designer Peter Butler, lighting designer Simisola Majekodunmi, sound designer George Dennis, and arrangement/orchestration by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite.

Its casting is by Annelie Powell, with assistance by Alice Walters.