What If If Only

Apples as Caryl Churchill’s dramatic device

“The humble fruit is a symbol of mundane human living as well as global connectedness between peoples, and between people and nature.”

During Apples & People, we have showcased apple art from around the world, art which has taken many different forms.

Poetry from Japan – Hatsukoi (First Love) by Tōson Shimazaki; and America – The World According to Apples by George Venn;  and the United Kingdom – Crab Apple Jelly by Vicki Feaver ; and extraordinary new spoken word commissions by Charlie Staunton – The Apple World Poem; Olivia Preye ; Garden of Hesperides and Sara-Jane Arbury – The Most Valuable Golden Apple Tree In The World.

Iconic American photography including Irving Penn’s ‘Red Apples’ (1985), Howard Edgerton’s ‘Bullet through apple’ (1964) and Arthur Rothstein’s ‘John Nicholson peeling apples’ (1935).

Mangzi Tian’s inspirational Chinese apple paintings ; Stills from Disney’s iconic animated films of Snow White and Johnny Appleseed ; ceramics – Apple-blossom sniffer by Lucy Baxendale ; the catchy C-pop video dance for Little Apple .

Cymatics, an apple’s crunch made visible when played through apple juice – The Holographic Properties of the Apple Crunch by John Stuart Reid ; Sculptors in Japan – Yosuke Amemiya and the search for the Universal Apple , and in England – Barnaby Barford’s obsession with the apple with the need for “more”

Welsh Beca Beeby’s jewellery commission reinterpreting Sumerian treasure; Billy Apple’s conceptual art in New Zealand ; a new song by singer-songwriter Jake Morley and musical compositions by the trio Unredacted Productions – The Malling M9  and for piano by Luke Faulkner ; Indian cookery  by Priya Mani.

Each one of our stories is interwoven with splendid apple imagery courtesy of the finest online art collections and new commissions.

With the curtain falling on the Apples & People exhibition programme at the end of this year, we can add ‘theatre’ to the list.

What could be more fitting for the last substantive post on the Journal of Apples than to share the beginning of a play from the pen of celebrated dramatist Caryl Churchill where a contemplation of the apple introduces the theme of loss.

‘What If If Only’ premiered in 2021, the year that we launched Apples & People with a story about Paul Cézanne’s painted apples “It was with the humble apple that artist Paul Cézanne chose to challenge both his own method of painting but also the art world of Paris, famously throwing down the gauntlet with the bold statement ‘with an apple I want to astonish Paris’ “.

‘What If If Only’ is a metaphysical play, exploring the nature of existence through loss of a loved one. At the start of the play, Churchill chooses the apple as a dramatic device, appropriately an artist contemplating how to portray the apple. A discussion about an apple and how someone might choose to depict it becomes an illustrative metaphor for loss, love, longing and regret, the theme of the ensuing drama. Although an apple appears the most ordinary and recognisable fruit, we know that apples grow with limitless variety and change over time, with Apples & People demonstrating how apples are depicted in the arts in multiple ways in different media.

Churchill’s play proceeds to look at alternative reactions to death and considers the instability of reality. In grief, do we choose to hold onto memories; ruminate “what if”; or lament “if only”?

Caryl Churchill has been described as a ground-breaking and influential playwright and is one of the most important writers in contemporary theatre. We are thrilled to have received her permission to share the opening monologue of ‘What If If Only’ kindly recorded for us by accomplished actress Abigail McKern, who has had an extensive career in television, film and theatre including with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Extract taken from the Play ‘What If If Only’ by Caryl Churchill copyright © 2021 Caryl Churchill Limited

We are extremely grateful to Abigail and Caryl, as we are to everyone who has contributed to Apples & People over the last five years. An excellent life-affirming international collaboration thank you. With few regrets…

Play ‘What If If Only’ by Caryl Churchill copyright © 2021 Caryl Churchill Limited

Thanks to:
Caryl Churchill
Abigail McKern
Matt Applewhite, Publisher & CEO, Nick Hern Books
Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited