Award-Winning DIE REUK VAN APPELS in Cape Town Premiere at The Fugard

Following the runaway success of a national tour, the award-winning play DIE REUK VAN APPELS has its Cape Town premiere at the Fugard Studio Theatre. The production will be presented from 17 October until 11 November, performed in Afrikaans with English surtitles.

DIE REUK VAN APPELS is the acclaimed 1993 debut novel of South African author Mark Behr. Upon publication and subsequent translation into English as THE SMELL OF APPLES in the same year, this landmark Afrikaans novel catapulted Behr, observed Tony Eprile of The New York Times, into the ranks of young and talented dissident voices such as Etienne van Heerden and Koos Prinsloo. Before his untimely death on 27 November 2015, Behr was a professor of creative writing at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

DIE REUK VAN APPELS is the coming-of-age story of Marnus Erasmus, the eleven-year-old son of a South African Defence Force general. It eloquently captures the Afrikaner mentality in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the brutal consequences of apartheid and militarisation of South African life.

Presented by Theatrerocket Productions, Johann Smith's stage adaptation of the novel stars Gideon Lombard (...MISKIEN, THE VIEW, SPECIAL THANKS TO GUESTS FROM AFAR) and is directed by Lara Bye (LONDON ROAD, OSCAR AND THE PINK LADY, VASLAV).

The production premiered at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) this year, with Lombard winning the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Kanna Awards for his role as Marnus. A seasoned and popular stage actor, he makes his debut performance in a solo play with DIE REUK VAN APPELS. Lombard, also a talented musician, is further responsible for the production's sound design, with lighting design handled by Kosie Smit.

Johan van der Merwe, co-founder of Theatrerocket Productions, says:

Since reading the novel for the first time, I have dreamt of producing DIE REUK VAN APPELS for the stage. When I teamed up with Rudi Sadler to create Theatrerocket, it was an obvious choice for our first venture as a production company.

DIE REUK VAN APPELS is a seminal work and a powerful, moving exploration of some of the consequences of our history. We are honoured to have two of the country's most respected theatre-makers, director Lara Bye and actor Gideon Lombard, to bring the story to life on stage.

DIE REUK VAN APPELS will run at the Fugard Studio Theatre from 17 October to 11 November on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 20:00 with a 16:00 matinee performance on Saturdays. Tickets for previews and Tuesdays cost R130, Wednesdays R155, and Thursday to Saturdays R165. Bookings can be made online through Computicket, by phone on 0861 915 8000, or in person at any Shoprite Checkers outlet. Bookings can also be made at the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554. There is a generous 15% discount available for the Friends of the Fugard members. The production carries an age restriction of 16 for sex, nudity, strong language, violence and prejudice.

The Fugard Theatre is situated in the heart of District Six, on the corner of Harrington and Caledon Streets, Cape Town. The Harrington Street car park is located at the corner of Caledon and Harrington streets and is available for the use of theatre patrons. Visit the cosy ground-floor bar, which opens two hours before all scheduled show times and stays open until last rounds are called. If the weather is fine the bar on the fantastic rooftop terrace is opened, with its panoramic views of the city. Both bars offer a range of wines from some of the Cape's top estates.

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