Sam Steiner’s play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at the Harold Pinter Theatre has followed a well-documented path from student drama to West End, thanks partly to the simplicity of its central concept (a society much like ours restricts everyone to a maximum of 140 words, written or spoken, per day), but also its structure as a two-hander with a pair of attractive parts for an attractive male and an attractive female lead.
‘A blend of rom-com & dystopian fantasy’: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons – Harold Pinter Theatre
Culture which arrives from the margins to the mainstream is a classic phenomenon. In the case of Sam Steiner’s Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons it has taken almost a decade for this two-hander to make the journey from a student production at Warwick University, via the Warwick Arts Centre in 2015 — plus outings to the National Student Drama Festival and Edinburgh Festival — before finally arriving in the West End.
‘Nicely tragicomic’: Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons – Harold Pinter Theatre
“Words, words, words,” Eliza Doolittle was sick of them particularly as empty descriptions of the love she wanted a practical demonstration of. Sam Steiner’s play Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons at the Harold Pinter Theatre is first filled with too many of them and then not enough for Bernadette and Oliver, a couple who struggle to express their feelings for one another no matter how many or how few words they are permitted.
Text of the Day: You Stupid Darkness!
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘Funny, haunting, moving & strangely uplifting’: YOU STUPID DARKNESS! – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
Given everything that is going on in the world politically and environmentally You Stupid Darkness! feels like it has captured the mood, the battle to stay cheerful and hopeful when everything feels like it is falling apart.
Andrew Finnigan, Lydia Larson, Andy Rush and Jenni Maitland in You Stupid Darkne…
‘Never really catches fire’: YOU STUPID DARKNESS! – Southwark Playhouse
A new play about optimism, You Stupid Darkness! is compassionate in conception, but repetitive and frustrating in performance.
‘Delicate but delicious’: YOU STUPID DARKNESS! – Southwark Playhouse
With its focus on the small things, Sam Steiner’s play You Stupid Darkness! is a delicate but delicious thing at the Southwark Playhouse.
‘Hit & miss’: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons – Barons Court Theatre ★★★
What is it? Written by Sam Steiner, this two hander explores the relationship between a young couple post and pre a law that bans the use of more than 140 words per day.
‘The kind of thought-provoking play that keeps giving’: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons – Barons Court Theatre
A polished and carefully directed production, Lemons is the kind of thought-provoking play that keeps giving, with plenty of material to ensure an excellent debate in the bar afterwards.
‘It could not be more relevant to demonstrate the power of language’: The inside track on Lemons at Barons Court Theatre
At a time when everyone has an opinion about Brexit and national policy comes Sam Steiner’s dystopian drama Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons to London’s Barons Court Theatre next month.
‘Scalpel-sharp hour of theatre with issues’: LEMONS, LEMONS, LEMONS, LEMONS, LEMONS – Bristol ★★★
If the production backs up a hunch that it is not quite a modern classic, it’s still a highly enjoyable take on a play that shows language is a right that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS – Brighton
140 words per day. That’s it. Short sentences, keep brief. Bernadette (Ivor) and Oliver (Slade) can’t waste anything. Yet… sometimes nothing to say. Others… Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons.