The Lion in Love (play)

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The Lion in Love
Poster Royal Court production, 1960
Written byShelagh Delaney
Date premiered5 September 1960
Place premieredBelgrade Theatre, Coventry
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama
Setting"a town in the North of England"[1]

The Lion In Love is a 1960 play by the British dramatist

English Stage Company, the play commenced a run at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 29 December 1960.[1][4] The work has been described as a "follow up" to Delaney's 1958 play A Taste of Honey but did not achieve that earlier play's success.[5]

Productions

Royal Court Theatre 1960

Cast[1]
Production[1]

Off-Broadway 1963

The Lion in Love had an Off-Broadway professional run in the United States in 1963.[6] The 1963 production was not a critical or popular success.[7]

Salford Arts Theatre 2014

The play had a professional revival by Eat Theatre at Salford Arts Theatre in 2014.[8]

Original reception

Response to the play was largely negative, both critically and commercially, but in retrospect it has been seen as a success by ordinary standards.

W.A. Darlington disapproved of its kitchen sink milieu, Bernard Levin, one of the new breed of critics, wrote, "The fact is, Miss Delaney is not only a shrewd and penetrating observer; she is a very delicate artist."[2]
Delaney herself responded with nonchalance, “I expected bad notices and those I have read, if they had been written about any other play, would make me want to dash out to go and see it.” [11]

Delaney did not write again for the theatre for almost twenty years.

Off-Off-Broadway's Cubicolo Theatre.[13][14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e The Lion in Love. London: Methuen & Co Ltd. 1961.
  2. ^ a b c Dennis Barker (22 November 2011). "Shelagh Delaney obituary: feisty playwright best known for her ground-breaking debut, A Taste of Honey". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Taste of Honey Playwright Shelagh Delaney dies at 71". BBC News. BBC. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Production of The Lion in Love | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  5. ^ Chris Maume (22 November 2011). "Shelagh Delaney: Writer best known for her controversial first play 'A Taste of Honey'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  6. ^ Simonson, Robert (22 November 2011). "Shelagh Delaney, Author of A Taste of Honey, Dies at 71". Playbill. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Theater: It Won't Do, Luv". Time. 3 May 1963. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  8. ^ "SHELAGH DELANEY THE LION IN LOVE AT SALFORD ARTS THEATRE - Salford Star - with attitude & love xxx". www.salfordstar.com.
  9. – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Kellaway, Kate (August 25, 2019). "Tastes of Honey by Selina Todd review – illuminating life of Shelagh Delaney" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. ^ Mapplebeck, John (September 20, 2019). "Shelagh Delaney: playwright on probation - archive, 20 September 1960" – via www.theguardian.com.
  12. ^ "Shelagh Delaney: The Start of the Possible". The British Library.
  13. ^ "The House that Jack Built". June 22, 1977. p. 43 – via BBC Genome.
  14. – via Google Books.
  15. ^ "Shelagh Delaney Biography - eNotes.com". eNotes.

External links