The Apple Family: A Pandemic Trilogy

by Richard Nelson

These three plays were written and performed over the memorable summer of 2020. Forced into isolation as the pandemic raged and protests against racism spread after the murder of George Floyd, the Apple Family of Rhinebeck, New York, gather over Zoom to share meals and weather the storms. Together, virtually, they swap jokes, stories and their adventures with grocery shopping and dating; they reveal their depression and fears, they mourn lost friends and even watch a dance performance, as the world outside sputters out of control, amidst anger, illness, and a coming election.
With an introduction and afterword by the author.

Genres: Plays

192 pages, Paperback

Published August 10, 2021

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

These three plays, written for Zoom by a major American playwright — at least according to the British — capture an American family’s connections at three different phases of the pandemic. I’ll note that Nelson finds his greatest inspiration in the plays of Anton Chekhov, admired for capturing the texture of daily life more than the high points of that life. Here is the texture of a Zoom call. And here are the ways we communicate while physically isolated from each other. Brilliant.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Nelson is the most underrated playwright working today.
The Apple Family plays is nothing short of a masterpiece.