Rebecca Ryan is to play Jo in Shelagh Delaney’s classic tale A Taste of Honey at Derby Theatre, a co-production with Hull Truck.
She is best known for her roles as Debbie Gallagher in the Channel 4 series Shameless and Vicki McDonald in the BBC show Waterloo Road.
Manchester-born Rebecca Ryan made her stage debut in 2008 in the Royal Court production of Fiona Evans’s Scarborough.
She says about appearing in A Taste of Honey, “I’m really happy to be starring in such an archetypal play by an inspirational writer.
“Being from Manchester, I feel this is a role that’s close to home and I’m particularly excited to be taking this production out on the road with such an illustrious company as Hull Truck.“
Set in Salford in 1959, the play follows 17-year-old Jo who is desperate to break free from her wayward mother. Jo’s instinct for survival and pursuit of happiness leads her to fall in love with Jimmy, a sailor on shore leave.
Abandoned by her mother, Jo is tested again when Jimmy returns to sea and she discovers she’s pregnant. Defiant in the face of convention, Jo moves in with her friend Geoffrey, a young art student, who assumes the role of surrogate father to her unborn child.
One of the most influential plays of its generation, A Taste of Honey was written when Shelagh Delaney was only 18.
The rest of the cast comprises Julie Riley, Christopher Hancock, Lekan Lawal and James Weaver.
The production is directed by Hull Truck’s artistic director Mark Babych who directed Lee Hall’s Cooking with Elvis at Derby Theatre in 2013.
He says, “What’s really special about this play is the authenticity of Shelagh Delaney’s writing and how she captures the ordinary and makes it extraordinary."
A Taste of Honey runs at Derby from Tuesday (29 April) until Saturday 10 May.