So, Twitter (X) limits you to 280 characters per tweet. Texts should have 160 characters - or at least that was something people thought about before most people’s contracts allowed unlimited. You can however send as many tweets and texts as you like. But what if you were limited in your speech to just 140 words a day? How would that change the way in which you communicated? Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, which is playing at Ilkley Playhouse’s Wildman theatre this week, explores just that.

This, without any particular political perspective, is distinctly dystopian drama.

Oliver (Andy Price) and Bernadette (Jennie Chapman-Sanchez) meet in a pet cemetery which seems to be the resting place mainly of cats and there, in a time before the imposition of the 140 word rule, their relationship starts. Oliver is a musician, making his way with family backing, whilst Bernadette has striven to become a lawyer – words in song then or words in court, are their bread and butter and they are unsurprisingly fearful of the time when the limit will be imposed.

Slipping seamlessly in and out of scenes and times – before and after the ‘Hush Law’ is imposed, words are used either verbosely and luxuriously or with utmost care, saying only what is essential. In the five minutes prior to the law change, they try to say to each other everything that is on their minds, all the bottled up thinking and they touch on really challenging and personal subjects and at perhaps the most vital one, the iron curtain comes down and there is no more.

This is such an interesting exploration of language and communication - what we say with words and what is conveyed without them. Anyone who has needed to edit a personal statement, an application or even a tweet will know both the satisfaction and the frustration of having to make the cuts. Miranda Armitage, making a welcome return to directing at Ilkley Playhouse, has enabled her two fine actors skilfully to find their way through this provoking piece and the result is a fascinating drama where every word is necessarily imbued with meaning and thought.

It’s only playing for three nights (Thursday, September 26 - Saturday, September 28) so catch a ticket if you can – available by calling the box office on 01943 609539 or on line @www.ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk