Bitter Lemons

You look down to retrieve the ball but all you can see is
Lemons
Lemons filling up the goal
Lemons writhing in the net
Lemons glistening and convulsing on the grass

In the pressurised worlds of football and finance, two women carve their own path.

After the loss of her dad, a goalkeeper prepares for the league final, while an ambitious banker battles her fears of being tokenised to secure a promotion. But as their pitches get closer, worlds collide as life shifts unexpectedly and in parallel. How do you face your biggest challenge yet?

Winner of a Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnership Award and supported by Bristol Old Vic, Bitter Lemons is an explosive debut play from Lucy Hayes, tackling the pressures on women’s bodies and the power society holds over them.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in August 2023.

Lucy Hayes is an Irish East Londoner. She works as a theatre director, writer and facilitator. Work as a writer includes Bonsai Baby which debuted at Theatre503 in September 2021, and Bitter Lemons, which was shortlisted for Pitch Your Play award 2023 with Masterclass and Theatre Royal Haymarket, and won the Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnership award in association with Bristol Old Vic. Bitter Lemons premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe and Bristol Old Vic in 2023. She was also part of the INSPIRE cohort for 2023-4 at Hampstead Theatre, under Roy Williams. She graduated with a MA in Drama Directing from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2020. She was the President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society 2017/18, and holds a BA in English Literature and Language from the University of Oxford.