The One with the Lemons
While staying in London, I thought it would be a good idea to check out some plays since that was never something I budgeted for when I was living there for two years pre-Covid.
There’s this cool app called Today Tix which shows you all of the plays, ballets, operas that are going on in the city.
It has your typical Phantom of the Opera (which I later saw and was amazing), Lion King (which I have not seen), Moulin Rouge (spectacular), and Wicked (which I have seen and was great).
However, I am usually more interested in the smaller productions, or less hyped up shows.
This brings me to when I saw the title, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, by Sam Steiner and directed by Josie Rourke, featuring Jenna Coleman as Bernadette and Aiden Turner as Oliver.
Hearing that Jenna Coleman was going to be in the play was enough to get me on board. Jenna plays Clara Oswald in Doctor Who and I simply could not get enough of her charming character there so I knew she would be good in this.
On the app the tickets were still rather expensive so I set an alert for rush tickets, which basically sets an alert for any last minute spots on the morning of the performance available at a reduced price.
Today was my lucky morning! I was able to get the ticket for half the price as what I would have paid. €25; pretty sweet deal!
Not to mention that when I looked at the ticket location, I was put in the front row! Wild.
I had been getting lucky lately; just in the past week having 2 flights worth €13 each and each having an entire row to myself—and now I get first row for the first time.
I got to the theatre 20 minutes early, and, after a quick bathroom break as there would be no intermission, I found my seat right up at the front and sat down.
I never had any doubts; Jenna Coleman was simply phenomenal.
The way she enunciates her words is just so refreshing and charming. She speaks very clearly but also with a cute intonation that you can’t help but fall for.
Her charm comes in part by being able to play a character that is supposed to look like she has her life so together: lawyer, yet self-proclaimed overly emotional human, and being able to cry at her friend’s cat’s funeral is just one of those funny things.
Bernadette is a complex character; we focus on her throughout the whole play. Her name is even uncommon which draws attention; and Oliver’s, well Bernadette says it herself: she knows a lot of them.
Oliver, a man who is excellently played by Aiden Turner, who is also handsome and creative, writing music in contrast to Bernadette’s more serious career.
But as the yin to her yang, they fit together perfectly for a while, until they so choose to be together or apart nearing the end of the play.
Oliver often refuses to answer Bernadette on why he separated from his ex, Julie, but is still in contact with her.
When we learn why, that they no longer loved eachother, it highlights the need for Bernadette to access her more emotional side and keep reinforcing the “Lovu”s in the constricted constructs of communication that they can use.
What’s interesting, and something that I didn’t pick up until it was pointed out by Oliver, is that are they just killing time until one of them questions, “is it now?”
Is now the beginning of the end?
This question brings about feelings of sadness, because it makes you think what of the relationship was actually real. If you were entering a relationship already (jokingly or not) imagining how it would probably end, what even is the point?
Of course this thought comes from a place of anguish; Oliver had just broken up with his ex and now meets this new, interesting girl at a cat funeral; he even thinks she’s the girl the cat belonged to based on her emotional reaction.
Perhaps that is what drew him to her; since in the end we know what ended his past relationship was a lack of feeling.
For Oliver to see a complete stranger show such emotion in public strikes a cord; and naturally he reflects upon this moment in the future when he does face problems.
This play is valuable because it does what others cannot: it portrays a complete communication breakdown where because of this lack of communication, we are forced to pay extra attention to the nonverbal cues and the gaps in the silence.
You might think this to be an introvert’s dream, but I can assure you that having so much in your head and not being able to get it out at all (let alone awkwardly, but at least it’s out) is painful.
The idea of babies growing into concise toddlers is surreal and amplifies the dystopian universe we have just entered. If children only heard the few words their parents spoke, what would they in turn learn to say? What would happen to their imaginations and ruminations?
A world with a word limit of 140; it is the Twitter of your day.
Now I myself have had days where I have not said a single word (mainly during Covid and lockdowns), and often I find silence relaxing. However, that is just because of the sheer amount of talking and engaging with the public I usually do so in turn, something has to give.
I do like my alone time, but I couldn’t possibly spend every day alone.
The closest I can come to this kind of restriction is being around Germans who don’t speak much English, for long periods of time.
I have been staying with a friend and his family for a while in the south of Germany, and most of the people I have encountered speak almost exclusively German.
This can be very rough, for normally I have so much to say (after I get to know someone a bit and open up). But when I can only myself say 140 words in the German language that make sense, how am I supposed to convey everything that I want to without such a struggle of trying to find the right words?
It can be pretty painful when you want to have a deep conversation about something, or even just elaborate on your reasoning for things, but all you can say are normal comments you have memorized.
How was that? Good. What did you do? Shopping and eating. We need more context than this to have exciting discussions! At least, for me, that is what I feel. I can only express so much using my hands and face.
Communication with others creates a sense of community. Even just the ability of texting friends or family about situations in your life is important. What would we do without this ability to vent?
It would be like a prison sentence. There is a reason why solitary confinement is one of the top punishments.
Communication really is key, both in relationships and in life!
All in all, the play, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, by Sam Steiner and directed by Josie Rourke, is a great case study and a hypothetical scenario where we must ration words in order to survive. If we cannot use our vocabulary, non-verbal cues and communication becomes the most important. But even with this, it is not sustainable. In order to avoid confusion and to expand upon our thoughts, we must use language.
Have you ever been in a situation where you could not speak more than a few words to someone? What did you do to overcome this obstacle? Let me know down below!
All the best,
Christina
