Tart Discourse at Lemons
Lemons is the Singapore premiere of Sam Steiner’s work that won rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe (2015 – 2017). It is also the debut production of Adeeb & Shai, who pledge to bring international stories with a contemporary relevance to Singaporean audiences.
The play imagines a world where the average person only has 140 words a day, by regulation of a “Hush Law”. Against the tumultuous backdrop of civil unrest is the bittersweet romance of Bernadette and Oliver, played by Jamil Schulze and Tia Guttensohn. Bernadette is the apolitical, apathetic lawyer while Oliver is an activist-musician hung up over his ex-girlfriend.
From using Morse code to shaving off qualifiers like “really” that seem to devalue what one says, Lemons is a delightful thought experiment about saying what is truly important.
The script is tight, punchy, and echoes current events. In a time of travel bans and gun regulations, Lemons delivers a prompt reminder that words and voices are the last defenses the masses have against injustice.
Director Adeeb Fazah allows the work to stand on its own, with a set that comprises nothing but two stools and a bench, delicately building a house of cards into which the audience peers. Schulze and Guttensohn supply compelling performances, tender one moment and ferocious the next. They move seamlessly from past to present, and trapeze between comfort and confrontation, never missing a beat.
Under the wash of an Orwellian red, Schulze and Guttensohn’s great chemistry makes their precarious dance of words enjoyable. There is little to complain about in the way the production complements the simple and powerful script.
Post-hypnosis, this work does leave the audience with a strong aftertaste: this clockwork-like production is a dystopia with a bow on top, and the audience its passive recipients.
Lemons addresses language and communication in an era of fake news and censorship, resonating in unsettling and sobering ways. It is urgent and competent story-telling, yet one cannot help but feel that it has not gone the distance.
Perhaps it is the sheer amount of discourse Steiner generates that distracts, or how unnervingly palatable this production is despite its gritty premise. In any case, there seems to be so much more to be said and nothing else, all at the same time.
Nevertheless, this production of Lemons articulates important, though ambivalent thoughts about our world today. One is hopeful that Adeeb & Shai will push the boundaries even further in their next production.