The Lemonkeepers is a visual chamber piece for three men, 221 lemons and a blue rope.

The performance might also have been called three men on a raft. The situation is exactly the same. For some unknown reason the three men, the rope and the lemons have been brought together somewhere in the world, under the sky, over the water, with no chance of escape.

The Lemonkeepers is like a pause in time. An opportunity for observing a cornucopia of paradoxical possibilities. And humour ... humour acompanies us like a stowaway.

The creation of The Lemonkeepers has taken its point of departure in three unique male performers. Each have a cornucopia of diverse knowledge and talent with them. With these they have infused the performance with elements of dance, performance, new circus, theatre and music.

Length of performance 65 minutes.

Presented by X-act with support from the Danish Arts Council, The Danish Arts Foundation, The Wilhelm Hansen Foundation, The Augustinus Foundationm, The Jubilee Foundation of the Danish National Bank of 1968 and the Tuborg Foundation.

The performance was created in close cooperation with the performers.

GRAN teater for dans, Århus, Denmark, 2nd March ’04
Superdanish, DanceWorks/Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada, 27th-31st October ’04
International Mime Square Festival, Aarschot, Belgien, 11. oktober '06.
Stevns Teater, Store Heddinge, Denmark, 29th October '06.
Helsingør Teater, Helsingør, Denmark, 31st October '06.
Randers Egnsteater, Randers, Denmark, 6th November '06.
Nykøbing Falster Teater, Nykøbing Falster, Denmark, 10th November '06.
Vejleegnens Teaterforening, Vejle, Denmark, 21st November '06.
Birkerød Teaterforening, Birkerød, Denmark, 28. November '06.
Team Teatret, Herning, Denmark, 30th November '06.
Cantabile2, Vordingborg, Denmark, 2nd December '06.
The Royal Theatre, Takelloftet, Copenhagen, Denmark, 5th-9th December '06.

Poetic imagery, both dark and light, that comes from a deep philosophical wellspring.
Paula Citron, 30th October '04, Globe and Mail, Canada

Superbly skilled performers … Beckett with a dash of Dada … Danish choreographer Kitt Johnson is an ace at wringing more from less.
Michael Crabb, 29th October '04, National Post, Canada

An inexplicable delight … superbly disciplined movers … performing with such slow deliberation and intense concentration that the viewer remained glued to what was happening.
William Littler, 28th October '04, Toronto Star

The latest production by Denmark’s leading performer Kitt Johnson turned out to be a quietly wonderful experience… Itzik Gabay delighted the audience with his physical charm, Samuel Gustavsson created the necessary fuss and fretted over the lemons, while Karl Stets was a real circus magician who conjured up a dangerous snake out of a piece of rope… a weird and silent world… playful in a Zen sort of way.
Charlotte Christensen, Mai, 04, ballet-tanz, Germany.

The Lemonkeepers accentuated a unique artistic understanding of the theatrical space and an exceptional ability of renewing the language of choreography…. elements of circus and catchpenny shows brought into the world of choreography turned out to be a wonderful and very personal interpretation of Cirque Nouveau. The audience was driven into a restless universe which balanced on the border between madness and genius, with humour as the eternal redeemer… a conspicuous performance which manifests Kitt Johnson as one of the most remarkable choreographers at present.
Kitt Westh, April 2004, Teater 1, Denmark.

Poetry, humour and a formidable bite are delicately harmonised in Kitt Johnson’s entertaining existential chamber piece... an almost surrealistic version of the old (Danish) joke: there are two men sitting on a raft etc... a Beckett-like space for exploration of life’s eternal ground rules - with boredom and death as stowaways. A universe which composer Sture Ericson nails with a resounding mix of distant, jarring deep-sea echoes, distorted noise and electrical guitar riffs with a sound of the prairies like in a Morricone western… the three performers’ skilled play with mime, kinesics and supreme artistery is a delight. Johnson’s lemondance is no bitter pill. It is chock-full with vitamins … This is great art!
Majbrit Hjelmsbo, 27th February ’04, Weekendavisen, Denmark.

Poetic theatre fun. The energy of the movements flowed through the bodies, and from performer to performer, whilst the blue rope became a snake in the lemon paradise and a pair of plaits on a shaved head… original and surprising stage magic… of hushed presence and trifles.
Erik Aschengreen, 21st February ’04, Berlingske Tidende, Denmark.

A little piece of absurd theatre in the best Beckettian style.
Henrik Lyding, 20th February ’04, Jyllandsposten, Denmark.

There can be no doubt that Johnson is one of the most industrious and original stagers of dance in these dry times ... one of her specialities is the way in which her cutting of the scenes makes us think and sense in new ways.
Janus Kodal, 20th February ’04, Politiken, Denmark.

The Lemonkeepers is beautiful and harmonious... working with subtle insights and their quietly exquisite presentation. It is a performance for warmth, and hearty fun. Artistically brilliant in concept and presentation.
Knud Cornelius, 19th February ’04, Frederiksborg Amts Avis, Denmark.

The Lemonkeepers is a metaphysical play with movement, light as a feather, deep as a parable. Humour is the main thread, philanthropy itself the password. The Dadaistic tone of Cirque Nouveau unites with a uniquely physical timing… Sture Ericson’s suggestive sound is inherent in this well turned performance… superbly complemented by Mogens Kjempff’s fantastic light setting… The Lemonkeepers is something of a miracle… one you want to see again.
Charlotte Christensen, 19th February ’04, Danstidningen, Sweden.