SalfordOnline
Your local community website
   A Tribute to Shelagh Delaney
by Tom Rodgers
Following the sad news that Salford's most well-loved playwright, Shelagh Delaney died on Sunday at the age of 71, SalfordOnline offers this tribute. Shelagh found fame aged just 17, with seminal play A Taste of Honey. It's almost unbelieveable that this was her debut play, showing as it did a mature discussion of northern working-class life. And while she could never repeat this phenomonal success her exploration of controversial and taboo issues like homosexuality and interracial relationships meant her writing has resonated down the years. Some have called for Salford University to offer Ms Delaney a posthumous award for her indelible influence on the city. Cathy Crabb, a local playwright who co-runs Media Medea, one of the founding companies behind Studio Salford, gave this tribute: "Never has a more beautiful, gritty and honest story been told than a Taste of Honey. In a time when the whole of Salfordian youth is misrepresented by middle-class journalism it is worth bearing in mind the blinkered determination a working-class writer needs. "So, as the mother of 'kitchen sink' passes, the cry is ‘who is the next Shelagh Delaney?’ Go to Studio Salford, The Black Lion, Salford Arts Theatre, Islington Mill. "And as for those who are still hiding, you have been tending to masterpieces in your back bedroom for far too long. Show it us then. Get some guts and get feisty - you owe it to Shelagh." Cathy also floated the idea of a Shelagh Delaney bursary to write a play: "What's important to bear in mind is - Salford didn't give her the support she deserved and needed initially, a lot has changed since then, it is incredibly supportive of the arts, but alas, the glass ceiling is thwarting many attempts for young working class writers." Are you listening, Salford Council? Steve Balshaw, who runs the Salford Film Festival, offered his perspective on Shealgh's legacy. "She didn't write in a heavy-handed 'Look at me, I'm dealing with important issues, give me an Arts Council Grant' manner, but simply because this was the world that she knew. And this is why her work has survived - because it's less about the issues than it is about people." He said: "Shelagh Delaney was one of the first writers to really put young, working class experience on the stage, and by extension on the screen. Her work has both earthy wit and real poetry, and has the freshness of young eyes looking at the world and questioning it, trying to make sense of it." As a measure of her influence on the wider world of film and television, she was instrumental in getting authentic local voices on screen and on stage, says Steve. Bill Walsh, a 52-year old from Ancoats, got a spot in Tony Richardson's film version of A Taste of Honey as an 18-month old extra. His mother Frances Atkinson responded to an advert in the local press for extras, taking along baby Bill with her. "I remember my mum saying that all the women got dolled up, got their hair done and put their best frocks on, only to be handed rags and rollers when they got on set!" Bill remembers: "It was a big thing when it came out at the pictures, because we were in it and all our neighbours were in it. When our scene in the docitor's surgery came up, a portion of the audience jumped up and shouted 'There's Fran Akkie!'. Because Delaney dealt with Northern working-class life, her plays led to a generation of actors who could use their native accents rather than the artificial RP or London accent used on screen at the time. One of Steve Balshaw's proudest moments working on Salford Film Festival was managing to get The White Bus screened in the city where it was filmed, 40 years after it was made, in front of an audience of people many of whom had been extras in the film, but had never had a chance to see it. "She is a touchstone for most contemporary writers based in the city and in the surrounding region. She has has influenced everyone from Alan Bennett to Victoria Wood, Cathy Crabb to Joe O'Byrne. "On film, her work helped to create unforgettable images of the city, and I guess there's an argument to be made that without Shelagh Delaney, Salford, Manchester, the North West generally would not have become such a popular location for film and TV, and our current media landscape would look very different." "Oh yeah," he adds, "and without her work, the Smiths wouldn't've had any lyrics!"
Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
|
