''Aunt Dan and Lemon'' is a play by

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

. The world premiere was produced by the

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...

(Joseph Papp, producer) at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

in London, England on August 27, 1985, under the direction of

Max Stafford-Clark Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark (born 17 March 1941) is a British theatre director. Life and career Stafford-Clark was born in Cambridge, England. the son of David Stafford-Clark, a physician, and Dorothy Crossley (née Old ...

. This production opened off-Broadway at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

on October 21, 1985. It received a New York revival off-Broadway in 2004 at the Acorn Theatre, directed by Scott Elliot. The play returned to London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2009 when

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

took the lead role. This production received mixed reviews.

Cast

Original 1985 cast * Aunt Dan -

Linda Hunt Lydia Susanna "Linda" Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American actress of stage and screen. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in ''Popeye'' (1980). Hunt portrayed the male character Billy Kwan in '' The Year of Living Dangerously'' ...

* Lemon -

Kathryn Pogson Kathryn Pogson (born 1954) is an English film and stage actress. She appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film ''Brazil''. She won a Best Actress Drama Desk Award for her performance in the 1986 New York production of '' Aunt Dan and Lemon'' ...

*Mother/June/Flora - Linda Bassett *Father/Freddie/Jasper -

*Mindy -

Lynsey Baxter Lynsey Baxter is an English actress. She was born in London on May 7, 1959. She began as a child actress in 1974, and later trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She has worked in theatre, television, film, radio and voiceover. Ba ...

*Marty/Andy -

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring roles ...

*Raimondo - Mario Arrambide 2004 revival cast * Aunt Dan - Kristen Johnston * Lemon -

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films ''Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

*Marty -

Maulik Pancholy Maulik Navin Pancholy (, born January 18, 1974) is an American actor and author who is best known for his roles as Jonathan on '' 30 Rock'', Baljeet Tjinder in ''Phineas and Ferb'', Neal in the first season of ''Whitney'', and as a character nam ...

Plot synopsis

Lemon, a reclusive young woman with an unspecified chronic illness, sits in her apartment reading books about

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

and reliving her life story. But as she tells the audience, that life story consists mostly of stories she herself was told in childhood by "Aunt Dan", a family friend. In flashback we see the miserable marriage of Lemon's parents and the child's eagerness for escape through Dan's stories. Dan is a charismatic, eccentric figure, who tells the girl of her love affairs with women but also of an intense imaginary romance with

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

. Dan's worldview is an application of Kissinger's doctrine of ''

realpolitik ''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...

'' to private life—amoral, ruthless, and seeing all relationships in terms of dominance and submission. As the play continues, Dan's stories become more bizarre, including one in which she conspires with a gangster's moll to murder a policeman. Lemon's inarticulate mother tries to stand up for the value of compassion, but she fails and is made to look foolish and weak by Dan's eloquence. Dan is transformed, however, when she becomes ill some years later. Tended lovingly by a nurse, she comes to feel for the first time a sense of loving connection with the world. Lemon is bewildered and alienated by this change in her mentor, and Dan dies soon afterward. Now an invalid herself, Lemon gains no similar insight from her illness or from her memories. Continuing her study of Nazism, she decides that compassion is simply a lie people tell to comfort themselves, and that this lie is only possible because the powerful of the world have taken on the burden of necessary violence. She concludes with the thought that ordinary people owe killers like

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and

Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...

a debt of gratitude for making their self-deceit possible.

Trivia

*On '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' in the episode

Swamp Diamonds ''Swamp Women'' is a 1956 American adventure film noir crime film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Carole Mathews, Beverly Garland, and Marie Windsor, with Mike Connors and Ed Nelson in small roles. The film follows undercover police officer ...

, the Mads are called "Aunt Dan and Lemon".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aunt Dan And Lemon 1985 plays Plays set in the United States Plays by Wallace Shawn