Play Review: ‘Apple Season’ and the stubbornness of trauma

By Ian D. Loomis
Contributor

To varying degrees of intensity, and with varying methods of coping, there is almost always a distinct memory in our lives that’s stuck with us. It can control the way we act and even crush our sanity under its stranglehold. 

Thus, the limbolike setting of “Apple Season”—written by E. M. Lewis, and playing at Theatre NOVA through Feb. 23—is fittingly isolated to the protagonist Lissie’s childhood home, an apple orchard lost in an uncertain past. We are transported seamlessly into her early life, a period she’s trapped in for the duration of the show. What begins as a sincere attempt to purchase the orchard by Lissie’s old classmate Billy is evaded by her damaged past and the ways she and her brother, Roger, try to cope.

The story, with its restricted setting and characters, succeeds centrifugally through the production. The set thoroughly envelops the audience in the setting, and the actors and the lighting artists allow room for inferences in their conveyance of the story. You can feel the sincerity, the concern and the hurt of the characters—no matter how much of a rollercoaster ride the dialogue and stage directions seem.

“Apple Season” also succeeds in its script where many attempts to utilize its niche topics fail. “Dear Camp,” previously premiered at the Michigan Playwright’s Festival, was one of these attempts, though tonal differences make comparing the two plays like comparing oranges and… well, apples. Regardless, “Apple Season” finds its emotional balance by not emphasizing the references to rural life in favor of the “fruit” of the story: the drama of the past undercutting the friendly banter.

Despite this, there was a tepid response amid the audience that I saw the show with, consisting of almost exclusively elders. They seemed perplexed by the direction the story took, and so the all-in-all well-executed play was met with polite applause at the bows. In short: see it while you can, and give the actors the praise they deserve. Showtimes are 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Buy tickets here.

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