Gripping tale of mother dealing with realities of empty nest syndrome

Anna-Mart van der Merwe stars in a new show at the Fugard Theatre titled

After a sell-out season of Florian Zeller’s The Father with Marius Weyers, Anna-Mart van der Merwe stars in the South African premiere of Zeller’s companion piece The Mother.

Translated from French by Christopher Hampton,The Mother will be staged at the Fugard Studio Theatre from Tuesday February 7, until Saturday March 4.

It will be directed by Janice Honeyman with an all South African cast headed by Anna-Mart van der Merwe as Anne. Graham Hopkins (Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, Black Sails, Barney Barnato, A Reasonable Man), Sven Ruygrok (SPUD, Zulu, Of Kings and Prophets) and Amy Louise Wilson (The Father, Book of Negroes, The Year of the Bicycle) complete the cast in this moving portrait of a woman losing her grip on reality as her life spins out of control.

Lighting design is by Mannie Manim with set and costume design by Birrie le Roux and Rocco Pool is associate set designer.

Anne loved that time in her life when she prepared breakfast each morning for her two young children, Sara and Nicholas.

Now they have grown up and have 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?

The Mother will run Tuesdays to Saturdays, at 8pm, with a 4pm matinee performance on Saturdays.

The Fugard Theatre is situated in the heart of District Six, on the corner of Harrington and Caledon Streets, Cape Town.

Tickets cost from R130 to R160. Tickets can be booked through Computicket or call the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554 for more information.

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