Kitchen sink drama
A “kitchen sink drama” is a phrase used to describe a British cultural movement which came around in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s in plays, art, films and television. It used a style of social realism which often depicted the domestic situations of working class people living in rented housing and spending their time off work in grimy pubs to explore social issues and political controversies. The films, plays and novels using this style are often set in poorer industrial areas in the North of England, and use the rough accents and slang heard in those regions. The kitchen-sink drama is placed in an ordinary home setting and typically tells a fairly dull family story. Family tensions often come to the forefront with realistic conflict between husband and wife, parent and child, between siblings and with the wider community. The may also be a family that has to pull together against external forces that range from the rent-collector to rival families.
“A Taste of Honey” synopsis
Act 1: scene 1
In the first scene, Helen (a semi- whore) and her daughter Jo are moving into a “shabby, comfortless flat in Manchester”. We find out they are quite poor as this is the best they can afford. Helen finds some of Jo’s drawings and she suddenly realises how little he knows about Jo. Jo rejects the idea of going to art school and blames Helen interrupting her training by moving her from school to school, she now only wants to leave school so she can get a job, earn her own money and get away from Helen. After this, Peter (Helens boyfriend) comes in. Jo thinks that Helen had them move to get away from him, but we are never told if that is the case. Peter doesn’t realise how old Helen is until he sees Jo. Peter then, to ever ones surprise, asks Helen to marry him. With no proper answer from Helen, Peter leaves.
Act 1: scene 2
The scene begins out side with Jo walking home with her black boyfriend. The two begin a light hearted