Overview
The Mother, the companion piece to the hugely successful production of The Father, showed at The Fugard from the 2nd of July 2017. The text was translated from the French text by Florien Zeller by Christopher Hampton and directed by Janice Honeyman. Anna-Mart van der Merwe starred in the South African premiere of Florian Zeller’s companion piece.
The Mother introduces Anne, a woman who loved that time in her life when she prepared breakfast each morning for her two young children, Sara (Amy Louise Wilson) and Nicholas (Sven Ruygrok). Now they have grown up with lives and loves of their own. Spending hours alone, Anne’s world falls in on her. Has her son Nicholas, always her favourite, really come back home? And what of her suspicions about her husband (Graham Hopkins).
Details
First performance
7 February 2017
Final performance
4 March 2017
Venue
The Fugard Studio
Cast
Anne
Anna-Mart van der Merwe
Pierre
Graham Hopkins
Nicolas
Sven Ruygrok
Élodie
Amy-Louise Wilson
Creative team
Producer
Eric Abraham
Co-Producer
Daniel Galloway
Resident Director & General Manager
Greg Karvellas
Associate Producer
Lamees Albertus
Writer
Florian Zeller
Translation
Christopher Hampton
Director
Janice Honeyman
Costume, Set Design
Birrie le Roux
Associate Set Designer
Rocco Pool
Lighting Design
Mannie Manim
Sound Design & Music Composition
Nicolaas van Reenen
Production team
Production Manager
Roberto Grové
Production Assistant
Christie Hollander
Technical Manager
Benjamin du Plessis
Stage Manager
Ulibo Maake
Set Construction
Gerhard Morkel
Carl Gersbach (for CHG Engineering)
Photography
Daniel Rutland Manners
Publicity
Christine Skinner
Reviews
★★★★★
“A cast who, without exception, deliver polished performances. This is superlative theatre.”
Cape Argus
★★★★★
“A powerful and disturbing theatre experience in equal measure.”
Die Burger“What Van der Merwe achieves on the small stage of The Fugard Studio is powerful and tragic.”
Broadway World“Four exceptional performances”
Cape Times“A deeply poignant piece that should be seen by everyone.”
Litnet“Honeyman transcends herself with aching tale of a misspent life.”
48 HoursProduction photos
