June 23, 2010
Heartbreaking, and brutal, and funny, and shocking, the stage adaptation of Richard Milward's novel Apples is brilliant.
A group of six teenagers are growing up and trying to cope with life the only way they can see how - they go out clubbing, get drunk, get high (the apples here are ecstasy), sleep around, anything to escape from being inside their own heads.
The characters may not want to be inside their own heads but we do, and we are granted access as they tell us their stories via a series of dramatic monologues within the scenes. This works brilliantly as Adam reveals to us his OCD behaviour, his violent home life, and the fact that he can cope with all this because of Eve, with whom he is hopelessly in love. She barely knows that he exists. We are not in Paradise. The Garden of Eden here is a Middlesborough council estate, and behind the poetic and moving attempts to work out who they are lurks the threat of physical violence, and sexual violence, desperation, and bewilderment.
The difficulties of being not quite an adult and not quite a child are dealt with very cleverly, moving seamlessly between mentions of drug-fuelled nights out and Scooby Doo and jammie dodger-fuelled days in.
The staging is brilliant: the set is minimal, with just a few chairs and some screens which are used really innovatively. The music is brilliant, the lighting is brilliant, the actors are all brilliant, even the scene changes are brilliant, with them effectively being part of the performance. You may be able to tell, I quite liked it. Go!
A group of six teenagers are growing up and trying to cope with life the only way they can see how - they go out clubbing, get drunk, get high (the apples here are ecstasy), sleep around, anything to escape from being inside their own heads.
The characters may not want to be inside their own heads but we do, and we are granted access as they tell us their stories via a series of dramatic monologues within the scenes. This works brilliantly as Adam reveals to us his OCD behaviour, his violent home life, and the fact that he can cope with all this because of Eve, with whom he is hopelessly in love. She barely knows that he exists. We are not in Paradise. The Garden of Eden here is a Middlesborough council estate, and behind the poetic and moving attempts to work out who they are lurks the threat of physical violence, and sexual violence, desperation, and bewilderment.
The difficulties of being not quite an adult and not quite a child are dealt with very cleverly, moving seamlessly between mentions of drug-fuelled nights out and Scooby Doo and jammie dodger-fuelled days in.
The staging is brilliant: the set is minimal, with just a few chairs and some screens which are used really innovatively. The music is brilliant, the lighting is brilliant, the actors are all brilliant, even the scene changes are brilliant, with them effectively being part of the performance. You may be able to tell, I quite liked it. Go!