The Lion In Love is a 1960 play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney.^[2] It was her second written play.^[3] It was premiered at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry on 5 September 1960 ^[1][2] With a cast from the 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]

Response to the play was largely negative, both critically and commercially, but in retrospect it has been seen as a success by ordinary standards.^[9][10] Though conservative critics such as 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.^[12] In 1979 she adapted her BBC series The House That Jack Built for Off-Off-Broadway's Cubicolo Theatre.^[13][14][15]