How can you really know someone if they can’t talk to you? This is the question being asked by Ronin theatre company at Modern Art Oxford this week, as new drama Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons opens.
“what happens in a society where the powerful can bend the rules, and others literally can’t speak out?”
A musician and a divorce lawyer meet at a funeral and fall in love. For Oliver and Bernadette, life is good. But when the government introduces the draconian Hush Law, limiting citizens to 140 words a day, their world changes overnight.
Director Cate Nunn said: “We were reading all the modern plays we could get our hands on to find the right piece and after I’d raced through Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons by Sam Steiner, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That was when I realised I’d fallen a little bit in love with Lemons.
Lemons also strikes up so many thought-provoking questions like how can you really know someone if they can’t talk to you? If I only had 140 words a day, what would I choose to spend them on? What secrets would I leave out? How much of our culture, leisure, work and emotions are built out of the words we say and hear? And what happens in a society where the powerful can bend the rules, and others literally can’t speak out?”
Lemons is an inspiring reminder of the power of our words and voices and after living in what has felt like a state of perma-crisis over the last couple of years, it seemed right to explore love, honesty, free speech, and the vital importance of our language and voices.
Having performed their last play The Effect at Modern Art Oxford with incredible feedback and reviews, Ronin, an Oxford-based theatre company specialising in modern and contemporary plays, were back like a shot.
“The space lends itself to an air of intimacy,” Cate says. “The audience almost feels that they are on stage with the actors, which makes them engage and empathise with the characters so much more.
“We try to find interesting and unique spaces to perform, such as the Maths Institute (Landscape with Weapon), and MAO has just been an incredible find for us.”
Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons. Tuesday 4th April – Saturday 9th April 7.30pm, Modern Art Oxford. Tickets at https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/lemons-lemons-lemons-lemons-lemons/
