Review: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner

Sam Steiner's Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons seems to have only grown in impact and reputation since its fringe theatre premiere in 2015. Drama teachers seem to be unanimously enamoured. It's an eminently stageable play, featuring two substantial roles. This is a piece minimalist in virtually every aspect – two actors, the merest hint of a set, with brevity and precision in the writing – but manages to say a lot about who we are as people and what we need from one another.

Bernadette is a proudly working-class lawyer with something of a chip on her shoulder. Oliver, whose background and lifetime of institutional privileges couldn't be more different from hers, is a musician. Their relationship is tense and fraught. He goes on protest marches where he sometimes bumps into his dreaded ex, Julie, whose wealth piques Bernadette's jealousy and rage about class and privilege. So far, so fringe theatre. The twist here is that due to a new dystopian governmental law, the Quietude Act, people are allowed to speak no more than 140 words each day.

Despite its necessary brevity and economy with dialogue, Steiner's play is rich in themes and ideas. It's funny – Bernadette bemoans spending ‘40 words ordering a smoothie' – and busy with pace and ideas. There are around 100 scenes, staccato and snappy as the storyline criss-crosses around the couple's relationship timeline.

The play has aged well. What, in 2015, might have felt like a ‘could you even imagine it?’ idea about free speech and government control now feels even more prescient and relevant. Similarly, Bernadette is casually dismissive of the approaching legislation… and then horrified about its inevitable impact on their lives. Sound familiar?

The teachers who have already found this play, ideal for very bright GCSE students and A Level Drama cohorts everywhere, need no convincing. Because it's so rich in ideas and possibility as well as being simple to stage, it's the winning ticket. Plus, with a recent starry revival with Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner on the West End stage, it's bound to win over a new legion of admirers. Clearly taking its cue from the limitations of communicating in a social media era, this play transcends its origins and is looking increasingly like a modern classic.