Fringe has a tendency to produce shows that are a little bit more out there and wacky, so it’s nice to be able to fit plays into your schedule that are a little bit more on the serious side too.

“Apples in Winter” follows a mother baking a pie for her son, Robert, to have as his final meal before he is put to death by the state. We listen to her talk about Robert, all the ups and downs in his life, but mostly of how proud she is of him. She visits him every week in prison and has nothing but love for him.

The play displays the all-too-common trope of what is known as a “boy mom”, where the mother’s world revolves around her son and she loves him more than her husband or any other member of the family. He is the golden boy, apple of her eye (pun unintended), and can do absolutely no wrong. They don’t know her boy the way she does.

The play has an amazing premise but, unfortunately, falls completely flat. This could be a great play, but it needs some workshopping and rewrites before this becomes a hit.

One of the main issues is in the gimmick of the play. Essentially, a pie is being baked in real time onstage. This hindered the play by creating massive gaps between dialogue, the actor focusing too much on the task of baking. This could be fixed, perhaps, by having the spices premeasured and speaking dialogue during the mixing, allowing for less awkward silences. The delivery as well needs to be more varied. The story is rife with emotional material that needs to bring the audience on a journey, and I feel the performance must be pushed further to accomplish this.

The end was also unsatisfactory. There is an expectation that she should have a coming-to that there was some parental responsibility for how Robert turned out. Instead, the writing seems to veer away from this, adopting more of an attitude that says: “No parent is perfect so don’t you dare blame me”. This type of play could hold so many layers, and this ending made it feel like we were denied that depth.

I would love for this piece to be taken away and really thought about in terms of character development. In regards to the real life pie making, I think this also needs to be reworked. With theatre, we can suspend our disbelief to aid a better flow and there must be a way to better incorporate it.

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