←Recommendations of Apple Season

Don't let the sun-kissed orchard setting fool you: Apple Season hits hard. The past is very much present for these three no-longer-young people, whose story slips back and forth through time as they struggle to reconcile the traumas and secrets of their pasts with the choices they must now make about their futures. The harshest of its revelations are nicely softened by a tremendous amount of love among these characters, and the warming effect of E. M. Lewis's earthy yet lovely prose. Brava.

Poignant drama about familial bonds, rekindling love, and ghosts of the past. Playwright E.M. Lewis has a love for language and it comes through in this play.

APPLE SEASON by E.M. Lewis is receiving an NNPN Rolling World Premiere. Partnering theaters are New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA) and Moving Arts (Los Angeles, CA).

One of those plays I just could not stop reading. Rich characters, engaging story and a powerful ending, I cannot wait to see this on stage.

A haunting look at trauma and time. Are places our memory keepers, and would avoiding or destroying them set us free? This question is at the center of EM Lewis’ beautiful script. Time is played with in a highly theatricality manner, and the spectacle written into the stage direction has me wishing for a near to me production of this play. So well crafted, highly recommend.

Lewis has crafted a powerful and poignant story of three people trapped by their own tortured histories, searching for an escape hatch that neither fight nor flight may provide. The monologues are gorgeous, the tensions are palpable, and the silences speak volumes. This play is stunningly crafted; a powerful piece for three young actors who want to dig deep.

In Apple Season Ellen Lewis creates with her signature elegance, 3 tender and damaged yet strong and determined characters. How Lissie is driven to do what she must do to be free resonates so appropriately with the #MeToo impact. Ellen's script is an Actor's dream as her clear and concise dialogue makes rich artistic suggestion of characterization without imposition. It was a joy to read such a beautifully crafted script.

You can run but you cannot hide. Memory catches up and it does so with a vengeance in this play. Lewis keeps the stakes very high - life and death. Set in an apple orchard, the sweet apples belie the very bitter home. The trees were safety nets which is why she can spend time in the orchard but not in the house. Careening from the past to the present and back again, the play sets in motion events that must occur if Lissie is ever going to finally heal. An aching take on a memory play.

Lewis winds the present with memories throughout her story, giving us a compelling taste of farm families and the decisions that make a life. This look at rural America feels especially timely as we struggle with urban and rural ideals.