‘Let’s just talk until it goes.’
You’re going to speak more than 123 million words in your lifetime. What will you do when they run out?
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is a tender and funny rom-com about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we can’t say anything anymore.
Starring Jenna Coleman (The Serpent, All My Sons) and Aidan Turner (Poldark, The Lieutenant of Inishmore), this bold and brilliant play from Sam Steiner (Fingernails, You Stupid Darkness!) is directed by Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots, As You Like It).
__Assisted performance__
Captioned, Tues 28 Feb Evening
Audio Described, Tues 7 Mar Evening
BSL Interpreted, Thurs 9 Mar Evening
This is a play of ideas, so Steiner won’t waste words on showing how this unlikely new edict is upheld by the authorities. Bernadette and Oliver thriftily cut out pronouns and definite articles to stay within the daily total, turn “I love you” into “loveoo”. Worse, a singsong of Total Eclipse of the Heart trails off when he runs out of words before she does. Every now and then they fall apart.
Coleman is cold and brittle as lawyer Bernadette, who is insecure and irritated that her musician boyfriend takes a dim view of her profession and seeks out the company of his more political friends, including his ex. And Olivier – while admirably socially engaged – is just a bit of a self-absorbed prick. We never really get to enjoy their relationship at any point: it’s always tense. Not that the play is one note, and it’s fascinating how the pair change after the hush law is enforced: before they probably yakked away too much, endlessly dancing around their actual feelings; after they’re stressed and miserable, unhappy with their brutally limited means of expressing themselves.
2023 | West End |
West End |
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