Monday 28th until Wednesday 30th June 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol

Fruit as an edible entity will forever be drowned in sexual connotation, not just because cherries are constantly being popped but the delicacy of a peach or the phallic ingenuity of a banana are fantastic ingredients for the perfect metaphor. It all goes back to the story of human creation and the day freewill gave Eve the apple to bite, thus kissing temptation and giving us the problem of evil.

Apples (originally a novel by Richard Milward) has been adapted for the stage by John Retallack. It is story of sex, drugs and virginity: love, life and misery. Set in Middlesbrough it is clear this play is for a younger unisex and the city audience. The script is beautiful and poetic (exempting the excessive use of swearwords) but at times tries a bit too hard, unlike the set design which is simple, versatile and shapes the piece perfectly.

The characters are quite obvious stereotypes: the pregnant teen, the blonde bombshell full of vices, the lovable geek and the ‘lad’ but it is the lovable geek, Adam (played by Scott Turnbull), who steals the show. His performance is honest and authentic giving him that splendid intensity which has comic timing running accurately beside him.

Apples doesn’t preach the do’s and don’ts of being a teenager which is clear in its use of humor. It instead captures a journey into the depths of growing up and the ways in which different teenagers deal with it. However, I felt that some of the darker moments of the play were lost in a sense of blasé ignorance and the characters inner conflicts were not fully being reached. One example is when Claire throws her baby off the bridge. It seemed that that part of the script had been missed in the rehearsal period as the inner build up of her suffering as a young and single mother was not fully dealt with in a performative way. But then considering the nature of the play, I wasn’t sure whether that was the point? Consequences aren’t fully explored in this piece which, if anything, clears the stars for an encore.

What happens next? This can only leave room for Apples two: the consequences.

www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Kayleigh Cassidy