Apple Season

“Three excellent actors bring quiet authority to their performances in Theatre Nova’s Michigan premiere of Lewis’ play under the direction of David Wolber. Alysia Kolascz plays Lissie as a tough woman. She has the right feel for the character’s constant apprehension and distrust of friendship, let alone the possibility of love. Kolascz never loses that hard edge that defines what Lissie has become.” - Pulp: Arts Around Ann Arbor review

“Theatre Nova’s Apple Season is a bountiful harvest of emotions” - EncoreMichigan review

“The show pivots on a very tough topic, but handles it in a contemplatively paced, gentle, talk-around-it way that is, I believe, no less powerful. I was part of an audience that loved the show. People stood and applauded enthusiastically afterward. Director David Wolber gives us an expert staging of the script, Monica Spencer’s set design of an apple orchard at harvest time and stone barn with antique apple press is exquisite. Daniel C. Walker’s lighting design illuminates the flashbacks, where the three characters play younger versions of themselves. The acting ensemble is terrific, especially Kucharek.” - Encore Michigan review

“All three actors breathe brilliant life into what could have been cliché characters in the hands of lesser actors. Audience members feel the incredible grit tinged with vulnerability in Lissie [Kolascz], the warmth of the kindhearted, earnest Billy [Kucharek], and the pain of the selfless, stoic but hurting Roger [Swift]. Ultimately, Lissie must decide how to reckon with a past that isn’t, as Faulkner said, past. Taking those steps with these characters is an emotional, beautiful, haunting journey that is hard to forget.” - DamnArbor review

“William Faulkner famously wrote: The past is never dead. It’s not even past. Those words ring true throughout Theater Nova’s production of E.M. Lewis’ Apple Season. The central idea—a woman returns to the home where she grew up after the death of her father—is not original to this play but the fabulous direction by David Wolber on a heartbreakingly idyllic set (designed by Monica Spencer) make it fresh and interesting.” -DamnArbor review

APPLE SEASON by E. M. Lewis

THEATRE NOVA
ANN ARBOR, MI
Jan. 31 - Feb. 23, 2020

director - David Wolber

Lissie - Alysia Kolascz
Billy - Jeremy Kucharek
Roger - Matthew Swift

Scenic Design - Monica Spencer
Lighting Design - Daniel C. Walker
Costume Design - Angeline Fox Maniglia
Sound Design - Carla Milarch
Stage Manager and Props - Briana O’Neal

Photographs by Sean Carter Photography