Fruit is an ambitious new six-part audio series from LemonSoap Productions, telling the story of the flirtations, trials and tribulations of four LGBTQ+ gals in Dublin City today, with an ensemble cast that features everyone from Derry Girls' Kathy Kiera Clarke and Fair City's Clelia Murphy to podcaster PJ Kirby, Eurovision winner Linda Martin and Queer As Folk star Aidan Gillen.
Through the lens of queer lives, loves & friendships, Fruit tackles an array of topics; what is to be trans today; queerness in the workplace; the difficulty of finding a home in a hostile city; and the still prevalent stigmatisation of a HIV+ diagnosis, while celebrating the complexities and joys of Ireland's LGBTQ+ community. Co-creator and producer Lisa Nally introduces the series below.
Making art in Dublin sometimes feels like an uphill battle. We face lack of space, lack of funds, and a lack of time to make the scale of work we want to see in this city. It's no wonder that so many fantastic artists leave the city, the country, or the industry.
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Listen to the first episode of Fruit
Since the pandemic I've been incredibly lucky to be a part of making some incredible new work, but when Ultan Pringle and I went for a walk one evening in the Botanic Gardens and toyed with the idea of a long-form, large-scale, laugh out loud dramedy about four queer friends living in Dublin city I admittedly thought it was going to be one of those ideas we fantasise about in our spare time and never actually have the capacity to make. I was, and I don’t often admit this, wrong.
After a lot of late night voice-notes, script reads on sitting room floors, and meetings in what feels like every café in the city, we ended up gathering a team so filled with talent that I still can’t fully comprehend that they all said yes. We’ve been working with writers, designers and editors who have embraced the ridiculous gay Sex And The City-esque brief, and an ensemble cast of 38 performers ranging from theatre icons, podcasting legends, and some of our favourite emerging queer talent from across the country.
Cheryl Fergison plays Maggie!
— LemonSoap Productions (@LemonSoapProd) June 18, 2023
Eastenders fan favourite, Celebrity Big Brother legend, and ally queen, @cherylfergison1 has appeared on stages from the West End to Mullingar Pride! We are thrilled to have her as part of the ensemble cast for Fruit! https://t.co/tI5e0a4P6i pic.twitter.com/iuU7YfTO3v
The phrase "it takes a village…" is incredibly appropriate for Fruit. Making a six-part audio drama is as bonkers as it sounds but the support for this project has been immense. From producing support from the fantastic Once Off Productions, to free space in All My Friends, we’ve been in receipt of such generosity across the city, from other artists and arts organisations, and from queer organisations and spaces.
There have been days when the project has been hard to get over the finishing line. Making work of this scale always comes with difficulties, but working with this immense group of almost entirely LGBTQIA+ artists to make a show that reflects what it is like to be a young(ish) queer person in Ireland today makes it feel incredibly worthwhile.
In amongst all the mayhem there are days when one of your favourite comedians punches up a line from your script to make it so funny you have to retake the scene from laughter. There are days when Aidan Gillen leaves the sound studio asking you to get in touch when you have season two ready or when you get to gossip with Linda Martin about the Eurovision in between takes.
And then there are days when myself and Ultan wander out of a sound recording and can both feel the excitement of something fun, fresh and heartwarming coming together. We know then that all the spreadsheets, eternal emailing and carting microphones all over Dublin city will be worth it once you tune in and get to enjoy the gay brunches, house parties and mishaps along with us.
The first episode of Fruit is out now, with new episodes dropping weekly - find out more here.
