Always on
This project successfully funded on 26th May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Apples in Winter
Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom
Aim
We are raising funds to take the powerful, moving play Apples in Winter to audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe for 21 performances in August.
"Apples in Winter is really astonishing to watch, with a transfixing solo performance from Campbell and crystal clear direction from Parker which exudes humanity in every moment and builds beautifully to a heartbreaking climax." (Yorkshire Bylines)
"An absolute must-see, with an immensely powerful performance that will leave you feeling shaken and devastated and furious." (Theatre Things)
Why this play needs to be seen
Miriam's son has been on death row for 22 years. At midnight the state will execute him. His last request: a slice of his mother's apple pie. As Miriam bakes the perfect pie in front of the audience, she unforgettably reveals her story and the jagged path to, and from, one night of violence. This deeply compassionate, searing one-woman play by award-wining playwright Jennifer Fawcett challenges us to face the impact of violent crime on its hidden victims.
To witness Apples in Winter is to journey deep into the heart of barely resolvable questions about justice, forgiveness and what it is to try to love unconditionally. It is to hear the voices of the silent victims of violence.
"A remarkable piece of theatre which offers a voice to an often-ostracised group of people… the play provides a rare glimpse into the invisible impact of violent crime, from the perspective of those whose suffering is rarely considered." (The Family Stage)
Why Edinburgh 2026?
Theatre is uniquely placed to give voice and perspective to experiences and emotions that are rarely exposed. This play provokes conversations about the price of justice. And forgiveness. And love. It has demonstrated time and again its power to open dialogue and hearts in post-show discussions.
Our production of Apples in Winter has already created strong momentum following:
- Our London run in 2022 (its European premiere)
- Performances around England in 2023-25
- Exceptional reviews
- OFFIE finalist nomination for Edie Campbell: Solo Performance
- Incredible audience participation in the post-show Q&As discussing the vital issues and emotions raised.
Edinburgh Fringe, the largest performing arts festival in the world, is the next stage for us to build on this strong foundation. We’ll share Apples in Winter with new audiences, connect with industry professionals, engage with press and reviewers and use this platform to launch the production on the next stage of its amazing journey.
"Jennifer Fawcett’s play is hard-hitting enough, but in the right hands it becomes absolutely devastating – and it’s hard to imagine hands more right than those of actor Edie Campbell." (Theatre Things)
How you can help
Deep, delicate and darkly heart-breaking, Apples in Winter is both tragic and compassionate. When we first read this phenomenally well-written play by Jennifer Fawcett we knew we had to produce it. We believe passionately that in today’s culture of division, this play needs to be seen. This is why we are committed to taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe.
But to achieve this we need your help.
Staging a play at the Fringe and getting it noticed by potential audiences require both time and money. This Crowdfunder will bridge the gap between funding secured, generous in-kind donations and the total needed. The generosity of your donations will fund:
- Venue hire fee for the three-week run
- Adapting the set for quick daily get-ins and get-outs
- Baking ingredients for the run - including rather a lot of apples!
- Our digital marketing campaign as well as poster design, print and display in Edinburgh
- Transport of set and team to and from Edinburgh
- Accommodation in Edinburgh for our creatives
See our range of wonderful Apples Rewards to choose from!
A donation of any amount is hugely helpful – literally every penny counts! How much you choose to donate is entirely up to you - you do not have to choose a reward/set amount.
"both sensitive and brutal in its exploration of a difficult topic... the play’s last line, spoken with a heartbreaking finality, leaves the audience sitting in stunned silence for several moments after the lights go down." (Theatre Things)
"a gentle domestic scene agonizingly held-fast against a backdrop of violence" (Surrey Advertiser)
About us
LynchPin Theatre creates compelling theatre through biography, rehearsed readings and full productions, with a particular focus on expressing seldom-heard voices. Founded in 1999, Lynchpin has taken two one-woman plays to the Fringe in 2000 and 2003, garnering 4-star reviews, Critic’s Choice and full houses.
Claire Parker was a recent finalist for the London Pub Theatre Awards New Writing and the Ettie Awards Best Drama for her play The Vegan Tigress.
Apples in Winter creatives:
Playwright - Jennifer Fawcett
Director - Claire Parker
Actor - Edie Campbell
Stage Manager and Voice Coach - Suzanne Parke
Lighting Designer - Elisabeth Tooms
Set construction - Andrew Hodson
Publicity and Marketing - Philip Parker
Video - Full Tang Visual
Production photos - Harry Ellestson Photography
"A beautifully written single-hander. Edie Campbell gives an astonishing performance, directed brilliantly by Claire Parker." (The Family Stage)
Miriam - Edie Campbell
Trained at Guildford School of Acting. Favourite roles include: the one-woman plays Emily Dickinson & I (Finborough Theatre London, Edinburgh Fringe and UK, North America and Europe) and Cloning Mary Shelley (Edinburgh Fringe and UK, North America and Europe); Lady Tuttle The Vegan Tigress (Bread & Roses Theatre London, Petersfield Museum); Alice Comyns Carr Rotten Perfect (Watts Gallery Surrey; Petersfield Museum); Mrs Cheveley An Ideal Husband (Electric Theatre, Guildford); Henry V/Prince Hal The Wooden O, Elsa Road to Mecca, Célimène The Misanthrope, Rosie Dancing at Lughnasa (Riverside Theatre, Iowa); Bess Abundance, Me HIM (University of Iowa Theatres); Emily Stilson Wings (Liar’s Theatre, Iowa); and Alison Look Back in Anger (Pegasus, Oxford).
Director - Claire Parker
Claire directed LynchPin’s OFFIE-nominated Apples in Winter by Jennifer Fawcett in 2022 at The Playground Theatre London and performances nationally and internationally. Claire is a London Pub Theatre Standing Ovation Award Finalist: New Writing and an Ettie Awards Finalist: Best Drama for her latest play, The Vegan Tigress (Bread and Roses Theatre, London), in which she also performed. Starting as a child performer in the West End in the musical Annie and as Liesl in The Sound of Music, Claire continued to work extensively as an actress on stage & screen, including a season at the National Theatre and several ITV and BBC series, before leaving for France where she raised a family, ran a dance school, worked as a voice artist and began writing. Since her return to the UK, Claire has worked with LynchPin as a performer, writer and director, with full productions of her plays Rotten Perfect (Watts Gallery, Petersfield Museum) and When the Cat’s Away (southeast of England tour). Claire also directed the UK première of George Purefoy Tilson’s Amelia (Electric Theatre, Guildford).
Playwright - Jennifer Fawcett
Jennifer is the winner of the NNPN Smith Prize and the Susan Glaspell Award and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Apples in Winter; the NEFA National Theatre Project Award for Out of Bounds, the Kennedy Center’s National Science Playwriting Award for Atlas of Mud, and she was nominated for the ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award for Birth Witches. Her plays have been produced in regional theatres across the US, the UK, and Canada. Jennifer was a co-founder of Working Group Theatre and is the author of two novels: Beneath the Stairs and Keep This For Me.
If you’ve read this far, thank you! Any donations are hugely appreciated. Please explore the range of Apples rewards!
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made