Apples in Winter is a play by Jennifer Fawcett that deals with the intersection between grief and guilt and just how far a mother can be held accountable for their child’s actions. We meet a mother whose son is on death row and for his last meal he has requested her home made apple pie and that is why we find her at the start of the show, in the prison kitchen beginning the process of baking a pie.
It is often said that if you want someone to really talk, give them something else to really focus on and they will gradually begin to open up and this is exactly what this play feels like. At the start the focus is on the pie being made and the audience being taken through this process but as the clock ticks towards 17:00 the balance gradually shifts. We learn more about Robert, his crime and more importantly, the impact that this has had on Miriam. Fawcett trusts the audience to sit with her as these revelations emerge rather than rushing towards the inevitable conclusion.
The language used by Fawcett within the play is beautifully crafted, the discussion about rituals peppered throughout the piece is one example, the ritual that making the pie itself is and the personal history it holds for Miriam but equally Robert’s ritual now he is in jail and how Miriam herself echoes this and then there is the ritual that is coming and that Robert has spent 22 years on death row waiting for. Equally the analogy and irony of something being created by the mother of a death row inmate preparing for his final meal is not lost and whilst Miriam talks of the importance of food at other pivotal times in her life Fawcett credits the audience with the intelligence to make their own connections with the impending meal.
The show is also paced in a clever manner, whilst most of the audience arrive with some knowledge of the play the information is gradually revealed, drip-feeding the addiction, the crime itself and then the full details which keeps the audience’s full attention.
The show is a one woman show and Edie Campbell plays Miriam beautifully. She is unafraid to let silence do the talking sometimes as she continues to prepare the pie while her expression reveals what words cannot. A wry smile, a glance at the clock behind her or a moment of hesitation adds another layer beneath Fawcett’s carefully constructed the text.
The set is a small kitchen worktop but as the play progresses you notice that things aren’t quite right. The knife is fastened to the worktop and as Miriam begins she takes time to familiarise herself with a kitchen that we soon discover is not hers. The room soon fills with the scents of nutmeg and cinnamon and then the smell of freshly baked apple pie. It is an inspired use of the senses turning baking into an uncomfortable reminder of why Miriam is there and helps transport the audience to the kitchen with Miriam.
Apples In Winter is a quietly powerful piece of theatre that trusts its audience to listen, observe and make their own connections. Fawcett’s writing gradually peels back the layers of Miriam’s story while Campbell’s nuanced performance ensures that every silence carries weight. It is a show that takes an everyday act and turns it into something poignant and thought provoking. A beautifully crafted exploration of grief, guilt and the impossible question of how much responsibility a parent can bear for their child’s actions.
Apples in Winter is on at 10:30-11:40 each day at Paradise in the Vault. To find out more visit their website here.
If you like this review you might also like my review for Bog Witch, Waving and Meet Mayor Max.