3 Years 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle, a new play which examines the relationship between two sisters whilst one is dealing with an eating disorder will be presented at Underbelly McEwen Hall as part of this years Edinburgh Fringe.
Recalling touching memories, laugh out loud annecdotes and Mars Bars, Alexandra Donachie’s new play 3 Years 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle is a searingly frank and painfully funny examination of what it’s like to live with a loved one and their mental illness.
When Alexandra (finally) decided to ask Kate what ‘that time’ was like for her, she immediately began cooking up ideas for this autobiographical show – albeit before Kate agreed to be in it. Had their relationship been affected? How had it changed? Were they closer or more distant?
3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle stars Alexandra Donachie (The Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley, BBC One; When We Dies- Bruntwood Longlist 2017) and Kate Donnachie (Carolton Hobbs Award Runner Up 2018, The Choir: Gareth’s Best In Britain) .
Alexandra Donnachie comments, For two years, I had been making and developing a one woman show about living with an eating disorder but something always felt off even when people said nice things about my work.
Eventually, I realised what didn’t sit well with me; there were already loads of fantastic one woman shows looking at incredible women and their stories.
One day I was in a restaurant with my younger sister when she spoke about a day at school when she had broken down under the stress of having an ill sister at home. I could – and probably should have – comforted her and asked her more about this in order to support her. Instead, I saved asking her to elaborate until I had a dictaphone under her chin a few weeks later. Soon after our conversation about what it was like for her during my illness, 3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle was born.
3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle will run from 1 – 27 August at Underbelly McEwan Hall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2018
