GRAPEFRUIT is a story of accountability, acceptance and inter-connected lives, set amidst a time of hope and social change.
GRAPEFRUIT constantly grapples with the notion that male rape is a stigmatised topic in society; engendered by the very thing that causes it. The play tackles the subject head on with characters and traits that serve as well-known and lesser known examples of personalities that embody this hugely under-discussed issue.
At the centre of this explorative narrative is Genevieve, a 38 year old trauma recovery counsillor working in a NHS clinic, whose task it is to unpick the lives of three troubled men from the local neighbourhood. Leo, an undiagnosed 27-year-old male with Asperger's Syndrome; Yuri, a 2nd-Generation Russian-American, and Claude, an orphaned young adult who struggles to connect with his past. Genevieve ultimately works to resolve the men's troubles, re-connecting their respective fractious pasts and analysing their personal enigmas, whilst seeking solace and comfort, in the very job protecting her from revealing her deepest troubles.
Set against a backdrop of a bourgeoisie pocket of leafy-green Notting Hill, in a capital whose attitudes towards Autism are radically changing, GRAPEFRUIT is as warm and insightful as it is heart-wrenching and shocking.
X&Y is an exciting new play presented by Young Lyric and Written/Directed & Produced by Melina Namdar and Jessica Manu. It's all about breaking the stereotypes of Gender! The show goes great lengths to explore what it really means to be a woman or a man. As the world evolves and develops, issues surrounding what it is to be a man or a woman continue to become questioned. Are you still performing your role to society's expectations? Come and join us as we depict the binary through performance.