Review: Bitter Lemons, Western Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘An honest conversation about contemporary womanhood’

“These aren’t the lemons life is supposed to throw at you,” exasperates a muddled Chanel Waddock as she is told to expect blood clots the size of lemons following her decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

Honest, myth-busting and real. These are the words that spring to mind after watching Lucy Hayes’ fiery new play.

Staged in the Bristol Old Vic’s intimate Western Studio Theatre, Bitter Lemons is a powerful, unfiltered presentation of the tax of being a woman, exploring what you do when life doesn’t go according to plan.

Winner of a Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnership Award and supported by Bristol Old Vic, the play saw its opening night in Bristol on Tuesday following a popular run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August.

With just two performers and a running time of only 60 minutes, writer and director Lucy Hayes has masterfully created a script that is pacy yet packed full of context, detail and nuance.

The play follows two women, living completely contrasting lives, both dealing with a range of separate contemporary issues they encounter every day.

A testament to the strength of Hayes’ writing is how she touches on colossal societal issues such as racism, sexism and identity without falling back on stereotypical presentations of women.

The characters defy expectations of their gender wonderfully and the text is powerful, yet not accusatory and tonally humorous in a way that still evokes empathy.

Chanel Waddock plays a convincing football goalie named A, who is desperate to make her mum proud after losing her dad while Shannon Hayes plays a young black woman named B, directly experiencing the effects of tokenism in the corporate workplace.

Channel Waddock presents a powerful, unfiltered presentation of the tax of being a woman – photo: Alex Brenner

The two women narrate their individual stories through a captivating stream of monologues, until their lives are disrupted by the same life-altering event when they both discover they are unexpectedly pregnant.

This play would not have the same physiological impact without the energy of the performers. Both actors demand control of the space and the full attention of their audience from the moment they step foot on stage.

Waddock bounds around the space like a firework and both women deliver their lines loudly and clearly with diction that could fill the Bristol Old Vic’s main stage.

Every line delivered by these two women is spoken with complete sincerity and conviction, creating an electrifying energy and immediacy in the space.

The set, costuming and props are all kept to a minimum, allowing the dialogue to take centre stage.

There is an electrifying energy and immediacy between Shannon Hayes and Chanel Waddock – photo: Alex Brenner

This vivacious new play explores the messy, knotted and beautiful mishaps that are inevitable in real life.

Lucy Hayes creates a space for issues still viewed as taboo to be openly discussed; contributing to the ongoing conversation relating to female autonomy which is sadly a subject still up for debate. This is a brilliant new political play that we can all learn a great deal from.

Bitter Lemons is playing at the Western Studio from Tuesday, September 5 – Saturday, September 9 at 8pm. Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk.

Main Photo: Alex Brenner 

Read next:

• Bristol Improv Theatre announce bumper autumn season
• Review: Orpheus and Eurydice, Bristol Old Vic – ‘Impressive and moving’
• Homecoming exhibition of photographs by Beezer

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