The full programme of events for the inaugural Shelagh Delaney Day on the 25th November has been announced.

The day itself will feature art, theatre, poetry and film with a host of performances, exhibitions and public talks from leading experts taking place across the city in the surrounding days and weeks.

Shelagh’s classic play ‘A Lion In Love’ will be performed each evening at Salford Arts Theatre from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 November.

The play is set in Salford in the early 1960s over three consecutive Saturday’s against the backdrop of a busy urban market.

And on Saturday 22 November, The Smiths Manchester Walk will start from Oxford Road Station at 11.00am. The Smiths used a photograph of Shelagh Delaney on the cover of one of their compilation albums and lead singer and lyricist Morrissey said:

“I’ve never made a secret of the fact that at least 50 per cent of my reason for writing can be blamed on Shelagh Delaney.”

Eccles Town Hall will join the celebrations by holding a free screening of Shelagh’s first play, A Taste of Honey at 7.30pm on Friday 28 November.

And Salford Lads Club will be exhibiting photographs (free entry) by Arthur Brougham between 11.30am and 2.00pm on Saturday and 12.00pm to 3.00pm on Sunday for the weekends of 22 and 23 November and 29 and 30 November.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery will also be displaying Harold Riley’s famous portrait of Shelagh Delaney in their foyer (free entry).

Salford Arts Theatre has a whole host of activities taking place on Shelagh Delany Day on Tuesday 25 November. These include:

Art exhibition – Art inspired by Shelagh Delaney
Theatre – A Slice of Life. A Slice of Life looks at the lives of Salford children living in a city that has changed and is ever changing
Poetry – JB Barrington will be performing a brand new, specially created piece to celebrate Shelagh Delaney Day
Theatre – Now and Then. Salford Theatre Company in association with London’s Group Theatre has taken on the challenge of creating a piece of theatre based on Shelagh Delaney’s unfinished work
Film – Dance with a Stranger. Shelagh Delaney’s third screenplay is the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in the 1950s
Tickets for the Salford Arts Theatre event sold out within a couple of weeks, but tickets are still available for the other events listed.

The City Mayor of Salford gave his official support to a campaign for a Shelagh Delaney Day by local resident Louise Woodward-Styles after she suggested the idea as part of the Spirit of Salford campaign.

Louise Woodward-Styles said: “As the Inaugural Shelagh Delaney Day approaches I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all who have made this possible, the community of Salford both young and old, have come together to celebrate one of the most influential and talented Salfordians.

“Shelagh Delaney enjoyed her life, she was a person of great integrity and proud of her roots. She would be no doubt proud that her legacy and work is still being enjoyed and discovered fifty years on.”

City Mayor Ian Stewart said: “Shelagh’s pioneering work A Taste of Honey has become one of the classic plays of 20th century drama.

“It’s only right that her home city should officially celebrate and recognise Shelagh’s work in this way – she is one of Salford’s most famous daughters.”

Shelagh once said of her home city: “For a writer, a place like Salford is worth its weight in gold. I think it’s a fabulous place, and the language is alive. It’s virile. It lives and it breathes and you know exactly where it’s coming from, right out of the earth.”

1 COMMENT

  1. Hi

    I am writing to you on behalf of Central Manchester University Hospital Trust. We are currently developing our 2015 Diversity Calendar. The Calendar is produced on a none commercial basis. It is distributed to our staff and community partners.
    Within the calendar we highlight a diversity champion each month. We have chosen Shelagh Delaney as one of our diversity hero’s for 2015. We would like to ask if you have a high resolution image of Shelagh that we could use for inclusion in our calendar. Any acknowledgement you require would be included in the calendar.

    Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you

    Barry Royle

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