Ixion Theatre Ensemble's ‘Apples in Winter’ breaks the mold of American pie

Ixion Theatre’s mission is “to build and strengthen community through storytelling.” Its current production, “Apples in Winter,” is a perfect example of the fulfillment of that mission. The play is a simple yet heartbreaking story that will touch any parent and possibly play to their worst fears.

Miriam (Paige Tufford) is the mother of a death-row convict. In real time she prepares son Robert’s last meal: an apple pie. Miriam dutifully repeats a family ritual in as close an approximation as she can muster while making the pie out of season and in the prison kitchen. As the play unwinds, the weight of her task becomes palpable to the audience: this pie is a symbol of her love, her parting gift, the last connection she can make with her son before he is lost to her forever.

Jennifer Fawcett’s award-winning script is deceptively simple. It rolls out in as measured a pace as the ingredients Miriam assembles for the pie. She methodically creates the dough, cuts the fruit, combines ingredients and shares fond memories of her sweet and normal son.

Tufford is terrific as the tortured Miriam. At first she is capable, practical, matter-of-fact.  As she unwinds her narrative, themes of order, time and ritual evolve, and the audience soon understands that she shares her son’s prison sentence.

Early in the play, Miriam advises that “if you follow the rules, you’ll get a perfect pie.” But as she shares Robert’s life story, we learn that even if parents do everything right, children can still wind up on the wrong path. Parenting is not as easy as baking: following the rules does not ensure a successful outcome.

While baking a pie, there comes a time when the heated fruit bursts, spewing its juices through the vents of the crust. In the same manner, as Miriam monitors the cooking pie, her agitation grows and her thoughts and feelings bubble up. How does a mother reconcile the heinous acts of a son she raised with love, and how does she say goodbye and move on after 22 years of regimented routine?

“Apples” offers no easy answers. Its beauty lies in capturing the heartbreak that exists for all of the victims of crime, which include the family of those convicted. Ultimately, “Apples” shows that not all criminals are monsters, and that some moms will always be mothers no matter what. What becomes of a mother after her “monster” is gone is the part of Ixion’s storytelling that audiences will consider long after the show is over.

“Apples in Winter”

$15

Ixion Theatre Ensemble

Saturday, Nov. 2, 8  p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2 p.m.

The Robin Theatre

1105 S Washington Ave., Lansing

(517) 775-4246, ixiontheatre.com/tickets