Lemons are for Emergencies Only

Singlehandedly written, directed, and performed by Claire Titelman, this affecting monologue about the conflicting passions surrounding a socially awkward young woman on her birthday marks the actress out as an exceptional theatrical talent.

Titelman's character reaches out to the audience with something she direly wants to express but which translates feebly into our terms. Enslaved to a mind that forcibly seeks ‘specificity’ in her actions, she righteously explains her need for order and rigid organisation in everything, all the while repeating her compulsive ritual of folding napkins, counting her candles, grooming her hair until glossy, removing bunches from her tights, and checking that her back-up lemon is in good shape.

The audience are literally invited to the character's birthday party, and handed cake and party hats on entry to the small theatre barely the size of a bus shelter. Lemons Are For Emergencies Only is a very intimate affair in which Titelman fearlessly makes prolonged eye contact with members of the audience to address them each directly. So zealously does the solo actress unleash her character’s curious perspectives that frequently the show takes on the feel of a spiritual séance in which an ethereal voice is communicating through her. At one point the ghost momentarily departs, leaving her staring at the audience unblinking and expressionless for one bewildering minute.

Fusing oddball humour with genuinely affecting laments to stigmatisation, Lemons are for Emergencies Only is a sweet and fulfilling dessert for the mind.