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Apples in Winter - UK Theatrical Premiere
Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom
Aim
We are raising funds to stage a moving play that powerfully gives voice to mothers of offenders with post-show discussions on love & justice
All of us at LynchPin Theatre are proud and excited to stage the European premiere of this award-winning and brilliantly-crafted play by Jennifer Fawcett, in London at The Playground Theatre this October.
Imagine someone you love does something unspeakable.
This is a play about the mother of a monster.
And the tenacious nature of love.
And how to make a really good apple pie.
Miriam’s son committed an horrendous crime. It was violent. It was terrifying. Caught, tried and convicted, he has been sitting on death row for twenty-two years. In seven hours the state will execute him. As is the tradition, he is granted a last meal. His request: a slice of his mother’s apple pie.
To witness Apples in Winter is to journey deep into the heart of barely resolvable questions about justice, forgiveness and what it is to try to love unconditionally. It is to hear the voices of the silent victims of violence.
PLEASE DONATE
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Thank you to Full Tang Visual for the Crowdfunder video
Apples in Winter is a story of a mother surviving, torn between her love for her son and the dark reality of his actions, grappling to make sense of her life.
The story is layered and unfolds powerfully. It is augmented by the actor preparing and baking an apple pie on stage as Miriam’s story unfolds.
Visit our website to discover more LynchPin Theatre
“I could not be more thrilled that LynchPin Theatre is producing this play in England and I hope you’ll support it.” Jennifer Fawcett, playwright and author of Apples in Winter. (Photo of Jennifer by Chelsea Bos Photography).
Edie Campbell plays the role of Miriam.
The production is directed by Claire Parker.
WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE
• To produce the European premiere of an extraordinary play
• To give voice to a hidden perspective and profoundly move an audience
• To invite people to reflect on the impact of violent crime on the perpetrator and their family and the legacy of living with a violent act
WHY THIS PLAY IS IMPORTANT
This is a play to provoke conversations about the price of justice. And forgiveness. And love. Theatre is uniquely placed to give voice and perspective to experiences and emotions that are hidden and rarely exposed. It has the power to open dialogues and hearts. This play has the power to achieve all of this.
WHEN and WHERE
5 -15 October at The Playground Theatre, West London.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Deep and delicate and darkly heart-breaking, the play is both tragic and compassionate. And phenomenally well-written by American playwright Jennifer Fawcett. We believe it deserves to be seen by British audiences and this is why we are committed to producing its European premiere. But to achieve this we need your help.
Producing this piece to the quality that the writing of this outstanding play deserves requires both time and funds.The generosity of your donations will fund:
- Set design and build
- Props (including apples!)
- Licensing fees
- Supporting our marketing campaign to achieve high awareness and a successful run to cover the venue hire costs
- Ensure our creatives are fairly paid for their commitment and hours
- The costs of nightly post-show discussions with experts from the criminal justice system and with lived experience to engage with audiences on the vital moral and political issues raised
Comments following a rehearsed reading for an invited audience in March 2020:
"Remarkable, inspiring play... love endures."
Dr Alison Frater, Chair National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance 2015-21
"This play has the potential to be a catalyst for change.” A prison volunteer
"powerfully gave voice to mothers of offenders” Prison chaplain
"A mesmeric performance..." John Locke, actor & director
ABOUT US
WE ARE LYNCHPIN PRODUCTIONS THEATRE COMPANY. We create compelling theatre through biography, rehearsed readings and full productions, with a particular focus on expressing seldom-heard voices.
Edie Campbell plays Miriam.
Edie trained at Guildford School of Acting and is a founding member of LynchPin Productions. Favourite roles include: Alice Comyns Carr 'Rotten Perfect' (Watts Gallery); Mrs Cheveley 'An Ideal Husband' (Electric Theatre); Henry V/Prince Hal 'The Wooden O', Elsa 'Road to Mecca', Célimène, 'The Misanthrope', Rosie 'Dancing at Lughnasa' (Riverside Theatre, Iowa); Bess 'Abundance', Me 'HIM' (University of Iowa Theatres); Emily Stilson 'Wings' (Liar’s Theatre, Iowa); and Alison 'Look Back in Anger' (Pegasus, Oxford). Edie continues to perform LynchPin’s one-woman play, 'Emily Dickinson & I' which has toured in Europe, North America and the UK. From 2009-2019, Edie frequently read and directed for LynchPin’s monthly ScripTease rehearsed readings.
The production is directed by Claire Parker.
Claire has been involved in the arts her entire life starting as a child performer in the West End in the musical Annie and as Liesl in The Sound of Music. She continued to work extensively as an actress on stage & screen, including a season at the National Theatre and several ITV and BBC series, before leaving for France where she raised a family, ran a dance school, worked as a voice artist in Paris, and worked with cultural organisations, in publishing and began writing. On her return to the UK, Claire started to work with, LynchPin Productions, as a performer, writer and director; her play Rotten Perfect was produced at the Watts Gallery in 2017, and LynchPin toured her most recent play, When the Cat’s Away, in 2018 in the southeast of England. Claire directed the UK Premiere of ‘Amelia’ in 2019 at the Electric Theatre in Guildford.
The playwright is Jennifer Fawcett.
Jennifer is the winner of the NNPN Smith Prize and the Susan Glaspell Award and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Apples in Winter, the NEFA National Theatre Project Award (with her company Working Group Theatre) for Out of Bounds, the Kennedy Center’s National Science Playwriting Award for Atlas of Mud, and she was nominated for the ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award for Birth Witches. Her plays have been produced at Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis), Urbanite Theatre (Sarasota), Centenary Stage Company (Hackettstown, NJ), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City), the Source Festival (Washington, DC), Hancher Auditorium (University of Iowa), Available Light Theatre (Columbus), Uprising Theatre Company (Minneapolis), Halcyon Theatre (Chicago), and the Drilling Company (New York), among others. She is a co-founder of Working Group Theatre.
This project successfully funded on 31st August 2022