About the Apple Family
The first Apple Family play opened in 2010 on the day Andrew Cuomo was elected Governor of New York State. Over four years and over four plays we watched the four Apple siblings, Barbara, Richard, Marian and Jane navigate their lives, during a time coinciding with the Obama Administration. Richard Apple, having worked for Cuomo in the State Attorney General’s Office, joined a corporate law firm, separated from his wife, grew apart from his two young children, until finally returning to government service, in Albany, to work again for now Governor Cuomo. Three months ago, he moved into Barbara’s home in Rhinebeck, and now works from there. Barbara has been and remains a Rhinebeck High School English teacher. Her years of care for their Uncle Benjamin ended a few years ago, with his passing. Marian continues to teach second grade; while carrying the wounds of the death of her daughter, Evan, nine years ago. Jane is divorced, he son Billy is now thirty-one and independent. She continues her pursuit of a writing career while still living with Tim, an actor, who now manages a Rhinebeck restaurant. Tim’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Karen, lives in Brooklyn with Tim’s ex and her step-father.
“In troubled and troubling times, theater has not only an opportunity, but the responsibility, to portray the confusion and articulate the ambiguities, doubts, and fears of its time. The goal then being not to argue a side or a point, but to attempt to portray people and worlds as they are, not as we wish them to be. Theater, to my mind, is not an argument, but an effort to create and portray human complexity, which we then share with a living audience, human being to human being. “ R. Nelson
CAST
Tim Andrews.................Stephen Kunken
Jane Apple....................Sally Murphy
Barbara Apple...............Maryann Plunkett
Marian Apple Platt........Laila Robins
Richard Apple...............Jay O. Sanders
