Interview: Five on Friday with Gideon Lombard of DIE REUK VAN APPELS at The Fugard Theatre

The rare opportunity of seeing a contemporary South African novel adapted to the stage will be presented to audiences in Cape Town this spring when DIE REUK VAN APPELS opens at The Fugard Theatre next week. The solo play, which is performed by Gideon Lombard, is based on the novel of the same name by Mark Behr and tells the coming-of-age story of Marnus Erasmus, the eleven-year-old son of a South African Defence Force general during the apartheid era.

Lombard is no stranger to stages in the Mother City, where he settled after his growing up and being educated in Namibia, the United States and the Netherlands - an experience that no doubt began the cultivation of his view that travelling is the best life coach! A graduate of the University of Cape Town's Drama Department, Lombard is an actor, director, writer, designer and composer. One of the founding members of The Pink Couch production company and a member of the well-known Polony Theatre Collective, he is also the executive producer of a film company that has had success in the making of short films.

Lombard was nominated for the Best Actor award at Aardklop in 2011 for his performance in ...MISKIEN and received two Fleur du Cap Theatre nominations the following year for his work in THE VIEW and SPECIAL THANKS TO GUESTS FROM AFAR. For DIE REUK VAN APPELS, he was named Best Actor at the Kanna Awards during the play's debut run at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees.

David Fick: Although DIE REUK VAN APPELS was only written 25 years ago, it already holds a place as a classic in the canon of South African literature. What has it been like tackling the stage adaptation of this masterful piece of work?

Gideon Lombard: It has been an incredible journey, filled with many challenges and as many joys. I was aware of the book before this process, but it was only after reading it and beginning the process, that I realised what an impact the novel had made. This, of course, brings a lot of pressure, but I think we as a creative team have done a good job of honouring the literature, whilst creating our own theatrical product.

DF: Alongside its musicals - like ORPHEUS IN AFRICA, in which you performed - and its roster of plays in English, The Fugard has presented some fantastic Afrikaans work over the years. What is it like to bring this piece to The Fugard after touring nationally to so many festival platforms?

GL: To have a run of a show in a theatre always feels like coming home, particularly when it's in Cape Town, since I live here. I am very excited that we get to share the piece with a Cape Town audience and for the piece to find a home in the Fugard repertoire. The festivals are great because it makes you focus on the essence of a play. It's a high-pressure environment, and every audience at every festival can be vastly different, but I feel that a run in a theatre allows you the time to get to know the play well. As an actor or a director, it gives you the time to spend some time with your work and simultaneously reflect and perform.

DF: I've been watching you on stage since the day that you and Albert Pretorius broke my heart in ...MISKIEN, which premiered almost a decade ago now. What has the highlight of your professional career been so far?

GL: I've been incredibly lucky to be a part of many extraordinary shows over the past couple of years. To single out one is difficult, but a few that I am very proud are ...MISKIEN, THE VIEW, THE GRAVEYARD, WIE DRINK WAT? and DIE REUK VAN APPELS.

DF: What do you think the biggest challenge facing South African theatre is at present?

GL: Money. Fewer and fewer theatres are commissioning new work. The festivals are under pressure to generate more commercially viable work, so to get funding to do the more so-called niche work is becoming increasingly difficult. The flip-side of this dilemma is that there is a rise in independent work. It is a more challenging model for artists, but I believe that if you can create a good product and survive the short-term, the mid to long term becomes more and more viable. Although this approach might sound exciting, it is the difficult result of a poor national arts funding system.

DF: In South Africa at this time, we have a huge mix of theatre legends and inspiring new artists. Who is your South African theatre hero?

GL: As mentioned above, I have been very fortunate in the work I've been able to do. This also means that I have worked with a lot of my personal theatrical heroes. I greatly admire Marthinus Basson and Jaco Bouwer and would love the opportunity to do something with them. Their uncompromising approach, creativity, sense of aesthetic and deep integrity to the work continues to be the reasons why so many of us get into and stay in theatre.

DIE REUK VAN APPELS will run at the Fugard Studio Theatre from 17 October - 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. The production carries an age restriction of 16 for sex, nudity, strong language, violence and prejudice.

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