Apples in Winter by Jennifer Fawcett

Directed by Claire Parker Performed by Edie Campbell

OFFIE Finalist Solo Performance 2023

Lighting Design - Elisabeth Tooms. Set Design - Andrew Hodson. Voice & Dialect Coach - Suzanne Parke.

‘Campbell gives an astonishing performance...Directed brilliantly by Claire Parker…with Elisabeth Tooms’ lighting and Andrew Hodson’s bleak set design really enhancing the emotional impact.’ My Family Stage

‘Apples in Winter is really, really good, with an immensely powerful one-woman performance from Edie Campbell that will leave you feeling shaken and devastated and furious. An absolute must-see…’ Theatre Things

‘a moving and delicately crafted piece on the part of the actor, the writer and director Claire Parker… [it] features a beautifully nuanced performance from Edie Campbell.’ 2nd from bottom

‘It is a gentle domestic scene agonizingly held-fast against a backdrop of violence’ Surrey Advertiser

‘Apples in Winter is really astonishing to watch, with a transfixing solo performance from Campbell and crystal clear direction from Parker which exudes humanity in every moment and builds beautifully to a heartbreaking climax.’ Yorkshire Bylines

Winner of the National New Play Network Smith Prize for Political Theatre and the Susan Glaspell Award Nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize.

Audiences called Edie's performance 'mesmeric'; 'quiet, powerful and compelling'; 'incredible'; 'beautiful, stunning'; 'a bravura performance' and ‘a tour de force,’ saying that it 'plumbs great depths' and 'shines a light in the dark'.

The Family Stage: ‘Apples in Winter is a really excellent, thought-provoking and moving play.’

Andy Keen-Downs, CEO of PACT: ‘Mesmerising one-woman performance by Edie Campbell of Jennifer Fawcett’s superb play Apples in Winter, moving, nuanced, intelligent theatre.’

My Theatre Mates: ‘Audiences can’t heap enough praise on actor Edie Campbell.’

Lesley White: ‘Beautifully acted and directed.’

Emma Lucia Hands: ‘Congratulations LynchPin Theatre on a powerful production of Apples in Winter.’

Ray Murphy: ‘Skilfully and mesmerically delivered by Edie Campbell.’

Errol McGlashan: ‘Went to see this a couple of days ago. Cycled in the pouring rain from East London. Google maps had me going all over the houses. But it was worth it. Catch it if you can.’

We're thrilled that the playwright, Jennifer Fawcett, came from New York for the UK premiere of Apples in Winter at The Playground Theatre London, 5-10 October 2022. She joined our stellar line-up of post-show discussion participants:

‘A mesmeric performance…’ John Locke, actor and director*

In a prison kitchen a mother is baking an apple pie: her son’s last request. As Miriam shows us how to make the perfect pie, we watch her grapple to understand what happened to her son - and how that night 22 years ago changed everything. The play offers a cathartic journey into the heart of barely resolvable questions about justice, forgiveness and love.

‘Remarkable play and performance… inspiring, love endures.’ Dr Alison Frater, Chair National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance 2015-2021; Co-chair Clean Break Theatre Company* 

Jennifer Fawcett’s play provides a rare opportunity to hear the often-silenced, vilified and ostracised voice: that of the mother of a perpetrator.

‘powerfully gives voice to mothers of offenders…’ Prison chaplain*

This delicate, heart-breaking, compassionate play challenges and inspires us to reflect on the impact of violent crime on its hidden victims, and questions how we live with the incomprehensible.

‘This play has the potential to be a catalyst for change.' Sycamore Tree Prison Fellowship volunteer*

There was an opportunity to talk about the play, its effects and the issues raised, through post-show discussions with a variety of guests including people with lived experience and those involved in criminal justice, human rights, restorative justice, psychology and the arts.

‘vividly illustrates the ripple effect of crime beyond the immediate “victim”’ Prison programme volunteer*

*Responses to LynchPin’s rehearsed readings of Apples in Winter