Aunt Dan and Lemon ***TNT
The final full-scale production in the Royal Court’s Wallace Shawn season is a classy revival of this 1985 work which, in structure and intent to shock liberal complacency, bears some similarity to both Fever which preceded it and his new Grasses of a Thousand Colours currently playing upstairs.
This time, the narrator who welcomes us into her little flat is an anorexic female in her mid twenties whose life experience and sexual exploits are all second-hand. Sitting with her array of liquidised fruit drinks, Jane Horrocks’ sickly Lemon begins to tell us about her fascination with the Nazis, then digresses into an account of her relationship with Danielle, the American academic who was once her parents’ closest friend - until, somewhere along the way, the adults’ friendship turned sour over Dan’s enthusiastic support of Henry Kissinger and his actions during the Vietnam war.
Lemon, however, remained under her influence – soaking up her reminiscences of louche encounters and premeditated murder for money which are brought vividly to life by noirishly seductive characters emerging ghostlike from the shadows.
Lemon, however, remained under her influence – soaking up her reminiscences of louche encounters and premeditated murder for money which are brought vividly to life by noirishly seductive characters emerging ghostlike from the shadows.
Director Dominic Cooke’s atmospheric production shows how easy it is for a charismatic adult to pollute the mind of a susceptible child, and, uncomfortably prodding the audience’s conscience, Shawn makes the point that, sometimes, society is all too ready to let someone else do the dirty work on its behalf.
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS, (020 7565 5000) until 27th June (£10-£25)
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