A desperate mother bakes one last apple pie for her death-row son in this profoundly human, affecting play from Jennifer Fawcett and Lynchpin Theatre.
Miriam’s (Edie Campbell) son Robert is moments away from being executed, convicted of killing two teens in a drug-fuelled rage. Before he dies, his doting mother has one last ritual to carry out: to provide Robert with his favourite meal, her apple pie.
Over 65 minutes, Campbell cooks, live, Robert’s final pie and delivers an absorbing monologue, brimming with pain and fury at her son’s impending death, struck with a raw grief as a mother in an unimaginable circumstance.
This is not an ordinary kitchen for Miriam to cook in. A bleak, sterile, penitentiary setting is the location for Miriam’s final maternal act. It is not the right season for cooking apples, Miriam laments, as a sense of unease and anguish fizzes.
Fawcett’s script, much like the pie, slowly crisps, gradually revealing the violence of Robert’s actions, but also the myriad perspectives Miriam has for her son. Is she a monster for loving him? She invites us to think so, and does not attempt to deflect blame or pardon Robert, but remains defiant about herself.
Under Claire Parker’s direction, Campbell thrives, shifting from sweet baking tips to nostalgic reflections on Robert’s upbringing and lamenting his situation. It is a multilayered performance, and one in the Vault’s intimate space, which is completely absorbing. A neat touch is also the lingering aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg, which drifts as Campbell cooks. It immediately transports us to the nostalgia for her home kitchen, and a life and relationship lost.
The decision to let the events play out in real time, watching Miriam cook along, is deftly haunting, as with each minute that passes, Robert’s last moments draw nearer. There are a couple of moments where this feels a bit forced, such as a fleeting fainting, but overwhelmingly Campbell, and Apples in Winter, lands.
At its core, this apple pie drama is a deft look at a mother’s unrelenting, complex love of her son. While the doom hovers heavily over the piece, the rich dialogue and engrossing performance from Campbell create a piece as rich as her trademark dessert.
