Director’s Statement

“I can’t know you in one-hundred and forty...

  …Try.”  -Sam Steiner, Lemons…

Theatre has this magic effect on people. It can change the world with something as minimal as silence. People feel challenged by it, for it can make us confront things as a society we would rather not. The great effect that theatre has on the people who come into contact with it, whether it’s negative or not, is something special.

As a director, I am fascinated by the human condition and seeing how our relationships can be affected by things that happen in our lives. When first reading this play I was immediately drawn to the world of this play. Learning to have to navigate through daily life and relationships with only 140 words or less per day was utterly fascinating. Once in quarantine, the play started to take on a whole new meaning when I in my personal life started to value my relationships with people who I could no longer see every day in a different way.   

Especially now language is as important as ever. We would be losing our minds more than we are already in this quarantine if we only were allowed to speak in 140 words or less per day. The silence and isolation that is already being felt would be amplified. We now are valuing our relationships with people in a different way than we did prior to this pandemic. Bernadette and Oliver are already feeling isolated from each other as they are now learning to navigate this new world they are living in. Similar to the way that we are now. Things drastically changed over the course of three days and when it becomes real either knows exactly how to cope. 

The value of our relationships especially during a time of crisis and drastic change, go from 0 to 100 real fast. We start to cherish the people in our lives in fear that we will lose them. Romantic relationships become important in ways we never thought since we have the time to reflect and ask ourselves what we really want. In the play, Oliver says to Bernadette, “I can’t know you in one-hundred and forty.” in which she responds, “Try” (Steiner 5). Think about how we are living now and can you get to know someone without being in their physical presence? This play asks you to try.  

Through this, we are learning the power of speech and how important it is to have our voices heard. How important words are to human connection and how isolated we feel when it is taken away. When watching this piece, keep in mind how important it is that we have the ability to freely speak to our loved ones, coworkers and acquaintances without a limitation on how much we can say to them. Especially in a time such as this. How lucky we are to have the freedom of speech that we do.