Is the spoken word a gift or a curse? Does it allow us to richly articulate our innermost thoughts, feelings and emotions, or does it mask what we really think?
Lemons… is based on the premise that the government introduces a draconian law limiting everyone to using only 140 words a day. The average person uses over 123 million words in a lifetime, so what would this mean for relationships?
In this taut two hander Bernadette (Beth Holmes) and Oliver (Euan Kitson), meet, fall in love and move in together despite some issues lurking in the margins. He is a musician, a political activist protesting about the impending law, while she is a trainee divorce lawyer without much interest in politics and more concerned about what made Oliver and his ex-girlfriend Julie split up. They are, however, authentic in their love for each other.
Ed Franklin’s sensitive direction allows us to watch – and more especially hear – Bernadette and Oliver have numerous conversations backwards and forwards across time. We hear them in their flirtatious early days and later in the angry exchanges that every couple experiences. Language appears to be everything, and this is brought into greater focus by the actors’ physical distance. They never touch and often talk to each other across the stage through microphones or during a choreographed walk around each other, mirroring the way that conversations skirt around a subject as people test what each other is actually thinking.
When Bernadette and Oliver are restricted to a strict word count another dimension is brought into play – can they buy the odd word through a clever trick or do they need to look more carefully between the lines to see what is really being said? Issues crop up including the disparity of words left to each of them at the end of the day. Bernadette wasted 40 words on the first day just ordering a smoothie, while Oliver is quick to pick up on the inequity in lawyers in court allowed to have dispensations over the 140 word limit. However, it’s not the big politics of government that is explored so intelligently here in Sam Steiner’s clever and often witty script, but the politics of language, love and relationships. Do we always say what we mean, or are there limitations to the way that we communicate? At one stage Oliver is literally struck dumb in the middle of a furious row when he runs out of his allotted words.
Both Beth Holmes and Euan Kitson convey the characters’ emotions and limitations fully and win us over. They are both attractive personalities, but they need the freedom to talk to truly love and understand each other.
Although it takes a leap of faith the buy into the concept of a ‘hush law’, this is a thought provoking play, beautifully played and with a clearly crafted script. Treasure every word in case it’s your last. ★★★★☆ Bryan Mason 19th November 2016
