Script Analysis

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner

September 22, 2023

Given Circumstances

Environmental Facts

1. Place
   1. Geographical location, including climate- It is never explicitly stated where in London they live, but they likely live together in a place like Marylebone where the area and housing are nice, but higher-income and Bernadette has easy access to law school and several law firms to possibly work at. It is also easy to commute to Westminster and all over London with the Underground, so Oliver can mobilize and organize protests on the streets of London by the House of Commons. The area is also full of parks and nature areas where a local pet cemetery is likely to exist for Bernadette and Oliver to meet. In London, the climate is moderate to warm year-round, and it rains roughly a third of each month.
   1. Specific locale and surroundings (the places physically depicted on stage)- Pet cemetery, Bernadette’s apartment, Bernadette and Oliver’s shared apartment, Bernadette’s car.
2. Time
   1. Date: year, season, time of day- It is implied that the play’s events take place over at least 20 months, with most of the action taking place during the spring/summer where the weather is more pleasant to be outdoors for protests and secret pet cemetery rendezvous. The action takes place during all times of day, with the majority being later in the day when the characters return from work and see each other for the first time. Some scenes take place in the morning, such as the scene where they watch the law get passed on TV, and others take place during the evening, such as their date night at the beginning.
   1. Amount of dramatic time elapsed between scenes and acts; total amount of dramatic time elapsed during the play (time for the characters, not the audience)- Since the play moves around non-linearly along the timeline, a great amount of time may potentially pass between any two scenes. While never explicitly stated, Quietude is in effect for over a year within the events in the play, and Bernadette and Oliver date for a considerable amount of time, possibly another year, prior to Quietude. So, overall, 2 years elapse during the play.
   1. Time when the play was written; time when play was published- The original version of the play was written and performed in 2015 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The current version is a revision for the 2023 West End production.
3. Economic Environment
   1. Large-scale financial systems– The characters live under and operate in the capitalist economy of London and the UK. Bernadette works full time at a law firm in London as a barrister, but she likely has student bills to pay and rent. It is heavily implied that between recording in the studio, Oliver works job-to-job as a musician. He is also heavily involved in mobilizing for the political organization he works for, campaigning for donations and injections to fund their work. It is never stated or implied that he makes money from the organization, but the organization hosts fundraising events outside of protest marches or rallies, and it is likely that he is compensated somehow for his work. Both characters also have nationalized insurance from the UK since they are over 16 years old, and at one point Bernadette asks for Oliver’s National Insurance number for some undescribed reason.
   1. Small-scale transactions between characters- Oliver and Bernadette co-sign a lease to live together and likely split the rent. Oliver becomes insecure at Bernadette making more money than him as a lawyer, and Bernadette confronts him about it on multiple occasions. They also go on dates and share meals, so they certainly have a system for splitting the cost or paying for each other’s meals or groceries.
4. Political Environment
   1. Large-scale system of laws– The characters and events in the play operate under the UK Constitution with the addition of the Quietude Bill that limits the number of words each person can speak or write daily to 140. Eventually, word sanctuaries are established that suspend the limit in certain places like courthouses and the House of Commons. Furthermore, the western political spectrum exists in this play, and it is heavily implied that Oliver falls far on the left and Bernadette on the left, too. Oliver calls Quietude and people who are pro-word limit fascist multiple times.
   1. Small-scale pacts, contracts, and agreements between characters- At some point, Oliver and Bernadette make a pact to be exclusive to one another. Additionally, they sign a lease contract to rent a living space together. Before Quietude is passed, Oliver argues against getting married and calls it “a piece of paper”, and later, they agree to put off any discussion of getting married and having children until Quietude is repealed, but Oliver breaks that agreement when he asks to talk about having kids later in the play. They also agree on a system of abbreviations that help them communicate efficiently in the post-Hush world.
5. Social Environment
   1. Family groups- Little is implied/explicitly stated about either of their families. Bernadette has at least one brother, a mom and dad. No information is provided about Oliver’s family.
   1. Friend groups- Oliver is friends/ex-lovers with Julie, and he is friends with Dan and Eliot, who he seems to have a falling out with during the events of the play for his political views.
   1. Romantic relationships-Oliver and Bernadette’s romantic relationship is at the center of the play. Oliver and Julie’s relationship also plays a big role in the play.
   1. Rivalries- While they never explicitly interact and Julie isn’t a character that appears in the play, Bernadette holds an unofficial rivalry with Julie.
   1. Occupational Groups- Oliver works with Julie and Lena in a formal way as lobbyists and political organizers, and he has worked with Dan and Eliot before on music. Bernadette works at a law firm with a hierarchy of employees and clients, none of whom she mentions by name except for Liv and Donna.
   1. Status groups- Both characters acknowledge the existence of the UK’s socioeconomic structure, specifically a lower-income class. Oliver sees anti-Hush Law lobbying as fighting for the lower, working class, and Bernadette mentions having a lower-class upbringing growing up. Also, Bernadette being a lawyer with a graduate-level education gives her financial, intellectual, and educational status. The characters’ political status and status as voters plays a large role, especially for Oliver.
   1. Formal organizations- Bernadette works for an unspecified law firm that handles, to some degree, civil divorce trials and family cases. Oliver may be part of an official grassroots organization to mobilize the London area against Quietude.
6. Intellect, Education, and Culture
   1. The value of and attitude toward education, intellect, and culture expressed by the characters- It is implied that both characters are highly educated and intellectual. Bernadette is in her pupillage after completing law school at the beginning of the play, and by the end, she is working as a barrister in a London law firm. Oliver has an implied education in music. Both characters value intellect and culture highly. Oliver values political intelligence and activism and has an appreciation for music at the very least that fuels his knowledge and passion as a musician.
   1. The role of both formal education and wisdom/experience- Bernadette values her several years (5, if she took the formal path to be a barrister) offormal education and is proud and unapologetic to tell people she is a lawyer. Her education gives her an idea of how Quietude works and the legal implications of it. She reigns in Oliver when he wants to lobby to repeal Quietude and provides realistic expectations for the timeline and possibilities of undoing it. Oliver values his wisdom and experience as an activist/political organizer, working on protest marches and campaigns against Quietude and understanding the disproportionate effects it will have on lower classes and artists. He also has wisdom and experience as a musician, with at least one implied studio release under his belt and another on the way with multiple writing credits for advertisements.
   1. The role of “gut feelings” and intuition- Gut feelings play a role for both characters. Bernadette is sometimes hesitant to put her support behind Oliver’s protests or go to the length and extremes he goes to because she doesn’t like not knowing how things can be used against her. She is also hesitant at the beginning of the play to push things further with Oliver because her gut tells her not to trust the unknown. Oliver, on the other hand, relies more on his intuition and trusts his impulses, especially about his duty in the protests against Quietude. He instinctively goes to write a speech, encouraging his group to rally on, after the law passes.
   1. The depiction of art and artists- Oliver is a full-time musician. He is thoughtful and passionate but sometimes insecure about his music. His most recent work consists of creating jingles for commercials, and when Quietude passes, he is working on instrumentals on a new album.
7. Religious Environment
   1. Formal religious practice- There are no religious practices explicitly depicted in the play. Oliver wishes Bernadette a Merry Christmas, but there is no suggestion whether they celebrate religiously or secularly.
   1. Belief in divine or supernatural forces- Late in the play, Oliver admits that he sometimes believes in God. Other than that moment, there are no explicit expressions of belief in divine or supernatural forces.
   1. Superstition-  Neither characters express particular superstitions

Previous Action

• List incidents that happened prior to the start of the play
  • Oliver and Julie date for an unspecified amount of time before breaking up
  • Oliver and Julie continue to work together in some capacity as activists against Quietude
  • An unspecified, briefly mentioned friend of Bernadette’s dies a couple years before the events of the play.
  • Bernadette dates someone named Stuart before breaking up.
  • Bernadette dates someone named Clint for four years before their relationship ends without specific details explaining why
  • At a protest march against Quietude at Oliver and Julie are at and possibly helped organize, Steph’s cat, Dennis, gets crushed.
  • A funeral is held for Dennis where Dan delivers a eulogy, and Oliver attends the funeral to apologize to Steph for his involvement in Dennis’ death.
  • Bernadette, Steph’s friend, goes to Dennis’ funeral and is moved to tears by the ceremony
• If applicable, describe previous action implied by the text but not explicitly stated.
  • A law in Norway passes, limiting the number of words each person can speak daily
  • A similar bill called the Quietude Bill is introduced in British Parliament

Dialogue

A. Choice of words—everyday or formal? long or short?- Overall, the choice of words resembles everyday speech between romantic partners. Before Quietude, the characters are more likely to use qualifiers or filler words to make their points, and after Quietude, the characters are much more intentional about their word choice, carefully selecting words to convey the maximum meaning without compromising their word count.
B. Choice of phrases and sentence structure- Before Quietude, the characters speak longer and in generally complete sentences. After, their choice of phrases and sentence structure is much more fragmented. They speak in incomplete thoughts, but each word is full of meaning because they think before they speak to preserve words. Also, they speak in a sort of abbreviated language that convey lots of meaning into somewhat nonsense words, such as “lovou” (I love you) and “sorf”(sort of) and “dunderstand” (I don’t understand).
C. Choice of images—does the character use images that evoke emotion? visuals? Oliver and Bernadette both use metaphors and imagery to convey meaning.
D. Choice of peculiar characteristics—dialect?- There are no peculiar characteristics of their speech that indicate any certain dialect. Very occasionally their word choice indicates that they are British.
E. The sound of the dialogue—does the character use “hard” sounding words or “soft” sounding?- Both characters have an even split of hard and soft sounds. They are both intelligent and generally well spoken, and when they argue they include more hard sounding words to legitimize their points.

F. Structure of lines and speeches—how does it support the delivery of the subtext?- Structure helps place the audience in time and place. When the lines are more structured like casual conversation, it indicates a time pre-Hush, and when the speeches are more fragmented, it indicates post-Hush. When the characters respond with a single word, sometimes it conveys how the person is affected.

Dramatic Action (Living Excel document)

Break down the play into workable units of action. Sometimes you can find a break where an entrance or exit occurs, while at other times it is a change in subject. A one-act play typically has between 6-15 units, but not always.

1. Title the units—number the units in the scene or play and give a nominative phrase as a title for each unit
2. Verbing—express the action of each line (speech) by using the initial of each character followed by a present tense verb. Example: N pleads
3. Summary of the Action—summarizes the action of each unit by following the number of the unit with a compound sentence expressing the reciprocal action. Example: A (present tense verb) to B and B (present tense verb) to A.

Characters

Treat each character under the following headings:

1. Desire—what do they want most?

Oliver wants to be listened to.

Bernadette wants to be undefined by what people think she is.

• Will—relative strength for obtaining the above

Oliver creates art as a form of self-expression. He organizes protests and mobilizes people to make his opinions heard, and he refuses to be interrupted or be told what to think.

Bernadette has defied her family’s low-income status by becoming a well-paid lawyer. She doesn’t let people get away with attaching labels to her or making assumptions. She is also hesitant to get into a relationship because of how it would potentially define her, and chastises Oliver for suggesting that she is going to get pregnant because of how her boss would view her.

• Moral Stance—values, honesty, moral code

Oliver values passion in his career and relationship with Bernadette and appreciates her intelligence. He has very progressive political views and values advocating for people with marginalized statuses. He lies for most of the play about cheating on Bernadette with Julie.            

Bernadette has less progressive views and is more open to the potential benefits of Quietude. She values her own individuality and intelligence, especially in terms of her career, but has an appreciation for passion in her relationships.

• Decorum—describe the physical appearance

Oliver is more relaxed about his appearance, but as a career musician and political organizer, he dresses generally trendier to preserve his youth and energy. He is also capable of dressing well for formal fundraising events or watching Bernadette in court.

Bernadette is well dressed and meticulous about her appearance, partially due to her job at a law firm and as a way of controlling what people perceive about her. At home, she wears more relaxed clothes, but her appearance is still well kept.

Ideas

1. Meaning of the title—what is the core meaning, or what is the play saying? Often an idea is expressed through a feeling—what lies subliminally beneath the feeling?- The title, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, refers to one of Bernadette’s lines where she purposefully wastes words to punish Oliver. It reflects how in the play, even seemingly harmless words can be weaponized and have a significant impact on someone. It piques the reader/viewer’s interest and engages them to figure out how a play about politics and romance relates to lemons. In a literal sense, lemons are sour or bitter, and the play explores the lives of two characters as they grow bitter and isolated.
2. Philosophical statements in the play— cite actual quotations found in the script. Pinpoint the line(s) that make direct reference to your interpretation of its meaning.

Pg. 15

O: I can’t know you in one hundred forty.

B: Try.

The characters successfully navigated a means of communicating, but the restrictions continue to hinder their ability to connect.

Pg. 50

O: We need to find a way around it. Tricks and things.

This quote reflects the characters innate drive to circumvent the restrictions to protect their way of life and nurture their connection and relationship.

Pg. 77

O: I miss you.

B: Right here.

O: Quota of you.

B: All of me.

O: No. Can’t… access it. Might as well be… gone.

This exchange gets at the idea that their connection remains severed and has grown worse since Quietude.

Pg. 93

O: Hearing your voice… Felt like you were, I dunno. Stepping into the light.

This quote shows how the characters become trapped in their own minds under the restrictions and in isolation.

• Implications of the action—how do the given circumstances and dramatic action unfold and reveal the characters until the summit, or idea, is reached. Determine how the characters’ actions propel the play to the climax and its end. Consider how these actions are played in relationship to what idea or conclusion you wish the audience to reach.

The characters actions and their inner and inter-personal conflict reflect their objectives. Oliver wants to be heard, but challenging and confronting Bernadette only alienates her, and Bernadette wants to escape pre-conceived notions about herself, but punishing Oliver for what he believes only reinforces his beliefs. The characters push each other apart, but they are brought together when they are isolated from the rest of the world by Quietude, and their creation of a system of communication gives the audience hope in its own ability to survive hardship, especially when there is no end in sight.

• Consider each scene—determine the purpose of each scene in the play. What idea is it trying to convey? How does it help the overall idea? (Living Excel document)

Dramaturgical Research

1. Author—biography, bibliography, critical influences, style- Sam Steiner is a playwright and screenwriter. He is 29 years old and was born in Manchester, and he studied English at Warwick Univeristy. Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons was his debut play written in 2015 then revised in 2023 before a West End production that same year. He also wrote the play You Stupid Darkness! that premiered in 2019. He also recently wrote the screenplays for the films Morning and Fingernails. All his works include dystopian elements or doomsday scenarios where glimpses of love, comedy, and humanity shine through and present hope despite the circumstances.
2. Play—seminal productions, reviews, history- Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons premiered at Warwick Arts Centre in 2015, followed by three sold-out runs at Edinburgh Festival Fringe that same year. In 2023, it was revised for a West End revival at the Harold Pinter Theatre in early 2023 directed by Josie Rourke. Houman Barekat of The New York Times wrote that “The play’s strength is in its playful riffs on language” and that the performances of Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner “present a charming and relatable portrait of long-in-the-tooth coupledom”, but that some of the writing still shows characteristics of a debut.
3. Genre—contributing factors, relationships to other work- The play fits within the genre of dystopia or political allegory because it prevents a cautionary tale to the reader of an imagined present/near future where the unjust circumstances of the world can only be prevented by a social/political change in our world. It also fits within the genre of a romantic comedy because it centers the relationship between the couple and the main events are shown through a lens of exploring how it affects their relationship rather than the world around them as a whole.
4. Period—social, historical, literary, artistic influences- There are implied literary influences of classic dystopia novels such as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451. Social/historical influences may include Brexxit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rise of authoritarianism in the UK, book banning and revising history in curriculums in America.

Sensory Research

Develop a collection of visual and aural resources that support how you want the production to resonate with the audience.

Misty– Errol Garner

It Never Entered My Mind– Miles Davis Quintet

In a Sentimental Mood– Duke Ellington, John Coltrane

How Was Your Day?– Mellow Fellow, Clairo

Exploration of Dramatic Structure

The arrangement of the play’s events shapes its dramatic structure. The headings below will be particularly helpful if your play is climactic or episodic in structure. If your text is not climactic or episodic in structure, you should examine the arrangement of the play’s events and explore how this arrangement influences meaning.

The play isn’t chronological in structure and moves freely throughout the timeline. At times, the arrangement of scenes can be disorienting and confusing for a viewer, especially at the beginning of the play when a post-Hush scene throws a whole new vocabulary and style of speech at them. The audience cannot firmly grasp how much time is conveyed in the play, since it moves fluidly between moments before and after Quietude, and it conveys the meaning that isolation and confinement blur one’s sense of time and place. It also subdues a sense of hope in the viewer that the protests work out for them and that the elected officials in the play get their act together. During scenes where Oliver and Bernadette argue over the worthwhileness of protesting and bargain with themselves that a law so oppressive will not pass, the audience knows well that the law did pass. In general, it removes the viewer from the story and makes them a third-party viewer, amplifying the dramatic irony where they know more about the characters’ future than the characters themselves.