Theater Arts Productions

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is a play that explores how a couple communicates, along with ideas about censorship, oppression and free speech.

This is an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books. 

Content Awareness: This show contains mature themes, adult language and flashing lights.

My first interaction with Sam Steiner’s Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons was in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was produced by Paines Plough, a British touring theater company that supports the development of new works, and was performed inside a yellow theater-in-the-round tent called the Roundabout, described by Paines Plough as “The world’s first pop-up, plug-and-play theater.” They take the plays – and this portable stage – everywhere they go to bring the theater into local communities. This is where Lemons (times 5) came into my life.
 
I was moved by the piece for its non-linear complexity into human relationships and communication in the midst of a confusing political time. Steiner’s storytelling invites the audience to be pleasantly confused from the first moment, to lean in and watch how this relationship and the world around these two people unfold, bend, and potentially break. The Roundabout is a remarkable space to watch stories unfold. Sam Steiner’s characters were essentially trapped while we as an audience surrounded them (quite literally). For our production, the incredible design team collaborated with me to create a similar feeling of being surrounded, being watched, on display on this raised stage, giving the characters limited mobility, being stuck with each other in a way that can make all of us feel it in the room. They can’t run away from each other here – it’s this world that they have to contend with. 
 
I don’t want to give too much away, but I hope Bernadette and Oliver charm you as they did me, bringing you into a messy world where the impossible is becoming possible. This resonates today in a way that it did not for me when I first saw the play, which makes me feel the story being told even more deeply. And it can still leave me with hope. I hope it can do the same for you. Our words matter! Thank you for being here.

-Jennifer Cleary, Director

Jennifer Cleary (Director) Jennifer Cleary is a Senior Lecturer in Theater Arts at Brandeis. She teaches stage management, creative pedagogy, wellness/sustainable practice, oral communication, and applied theater. Jen’s directing credits include Wait Until Dark (Asst.), Twilight Los Angeles: 1992 (Asst.), Reckless, The Golden Fleece, B’Shalom, Losing the Game, and The War. She is a professional stage manager and has mentored student stage managers for almost 25 years. Jen is a licensed clinical social worker and supports department productions as the wellness liaison. She is thrilled to be working with this incredible company of artists!

Nili Fish-Bieler (Stage Manager) Nili is a junior majoring in Mathematics from Sharon, MA. At Brandeis, she has worked on Bad Jews (ASM) with the Theatre Department and Space Girl (SM) with the Undergraduate Theatre Collective. Nili has spent two summers as an Emerging Arts Leader at the Wheelock Family Theatre and currently serves as the Production Manager at Gann Academy in Waltham. She is grateful for the opportunity to grow as a stage manager while working with this talented team, particularly under the guidance of director Jen Cleary.

Skylar Neidig (Assistant Stage Manager) Skylar is a sophomore majoring in Theater Arts and Applied Mathematics. She began stage managing her first semester at Brandeis with the Undergraduate Theater Collective's Fugitive Songs. She has worked on other Brandeis Department shows, such as deck crew for Bad Jews and most recently, assistant stage manager for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She has also had the privilege of stage managing two senior theses shows in her Spring semesters. She would like to thank Nili for always being an inspiration to her as another student stage manager!

Saskia Martinez (Scenic & Prop Designer) they/them. Saskia is a Boston-based scenic artist and designer. Boston-area credits include: Twelfth Night (Brandeis University), The SpongeBob Musical, A Year with Frog and Toad, Little Women: The Musical (Wheelock Family Theater), Emma, Romeo and Juliet, King Hedley II, The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Coriolanus (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), HER|alive.un.dead (Guerilla Opera). Regional scenic artist credits include the Huntington Theater and South Coast Repertory.

Brooke Stanton (Costume Designer) is a costumer who has worked in theatre, film, and television. During her five years with George Lucas’ ILM, she built creatures for the Star Wars Special Edition Trilogy and The Phantom Menace. She has toured internationally and nationally designing for Peter Sellars. Other clients include Disney, Columbia Pictures, CBS, American Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Aspen Music Festival, Berkshire Opera Festival, Boston Symphony Youth Orchestra, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Santa Fe Opera, S.F. Shakespeare, New England Conservatory, and Odyssey Opera. She costumed three films with Robin Williams after studying Costume Design at NYU and Textiles at California College of the Arts. www.brookestanton.com

Liam Delaney (Assistant Costume Designer) Liam is ecstatic to both be acting in and assistant costume designing Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons. Liam previously costume designed Hamlet in the 2024 Senior Studio Productions. He has worked as a costume stitcher on Spring Awakening, Five Doors One Room, Twelfth Night, Everybody, Stupid F*cking Bird, Bad Jews, Wolf Play, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He has also worked as a costume stitcher at Shakespeare & Company during their 2024 summer season, which included productions of A Body of Water, The Comedy of Errors, The Islanders, and Flight of the Monarch.

Amanda Fallon (Lighting Designer) Amanda is a lighting designer, director, visual artist, and educator with love for new work and devising. Following the completion of an MFA in Lighting Design at Boston University, they’ve continued to design throughout New England for professional and educational institutions including Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Central Square Theatre, Speakeasy Stage Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, and Wheelock Family Theatre. They're happy to return to Brandeis for another fun production!

Anna Drummond (Sound Designer) They/Them. Anna Drummond is a Boston-based sound designer specializing in live theatre and SFX curation. They work within the Northeast area for professional theatre companies and educational institutions. Previous Sound Design credits include: Front Porch Arts Collective - Chicken & Biscuits; The Huntington - K-I-S-S-I-N-G (Elliot Norton Award) and Dream Boston: 3 Miles; SpeakEasy Stage - BLKS and Pass Over; Company One (C1) - Leftovers, Black Super Hero Magic Mama, and can i touch it?; Fresh Ink Theatre - Shrike and Truth or Consequences; Trinity Repertory Company/Brown University - Eurydice, Prowess, soul tapes, and The Book of Lucy; Harvard University - Married or Made; Boston Conservatory at Berklee - Everybody, Machinal, and As You Like It; Northeastern University - Deferred, This Is Treatment, and Problem Play; Emerson College - Paris. Anna holds a BA with Honors in Sound Design/Audio Post-Production from the Visual & Media Arts Department of Emerson College.

• Nicole Albright
• Jason Dickstein
• Atlas Rosenfeld
• Iris Sano

• Shana Gozansky
• Adrianne Krstansky
• Joel Sugerman