Magnet Theatre


Magnet Theatre is an independent physical theatre company based in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in 1987 by Mark Fleishman and Jennie Reznek who have since been the company's artistic directors. Besides creating original theatre productions, Magnet Theatre is actively engaged in youth development work in the Cape Town area as well as in the Cederberg Municipality.

History

Magnet Theatre was founded in 1987 to produce Cheap Flights, starring Reznek. It re-emerged in 1991 to produce The Show's Not over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings, again starring Reznek. The show toured nationally and internationally for two and a half years.
In 1994, Magnet Theatre returned to South Africa. For the next few years, the company focused mainly on its professional theatre productions. These included eight collaborations with Cape Town-based Jazzart Dance Theatre between 1994 and 2007 ; stage adaptations of Herman Melville's Moby Dick and Mia Couto's Voices Made Night ; two performance pieces with Jennie Reznek ; and four outdoor productions between 1998 and 2011.
In 1998, Magnet Theatre established the Magnet Theatre Educational Trust dedicating itself to training and developing skills for impoverished and marginalised youth.
In 2001, Magnet Theatre initiated several youth development projects in addition to its theatre and performance productions. These include the Clanwilliam Arts Project ; the Community Groups Intervention in Khayelitsha ; the Community Arts Development in Clanwilliam ; the Culture Gangs Project ; and the Farm Schools Project.
In 2006, Magnet Theatre produced Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking for the African Festival of Youth and Children's Theatre. The piece about refugees in Africa subsequently toured five continents from 2007-2014 and was published in 2011. It was part of a focus on migration which included works in isiXhosa and Afrikaans: ingcwaba lendoda lise cankwe ndlela and Inxeba Lomphilisi, both directed by Mandla Mbothwe, and Die Vreemdeling.
In 2008, Magnet Theatre initiated a two-year Fulltime Training and Job Creation Programme. Since then, 58 trainees from townships in and around Cape Town have participated in the programme. As part of their training, each group of trainees has created several theatre productions. Among these are pieces in isiXhosa as well as a collaboration with the Cape Town Opera and young singers from the Cape Town Opera Studio.
In 2013, Magnet Theatre initiated a creative focus on Early Years performance and training, developing performances for under seven-year-olds. Their first piece, TREE/BOOM/UMTHI toured the Cape Town townships, Italy, Germany, the UK, and the US. Since then Magnet Theatre has produced five new Early Years works that have been performed in crèches and aftercare centres in Cape Town, the Cederberg Municipality, and Okiep. One of the pieces, SCOOP: kitchen play for carers and babes, was the first ever South African work for mothers/fathers and babies under the age of 12 months.

Facilities

In 2010, Magnet Theatre moved to its current location in Observatory, Cape Town. The building that the company resides in is Unit 1 of The Old Match Factory. It contains a 9.5 x 11.5 m stage, an auditorium of 150 seats, and the Magnet Theatre office.

Productions and projects

Productions

Since 1987, Magnet Theatre has produced more than 30 original works.
Magnet Theatre has repeatedly collaborated with other South African and international performing arts companies, including Jazzart Dance Theatre, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town Opera, Southern Edge Arts, and Théâtre Spirale. Magnet Theatre also has a long history of collaborating with the University of Cape Town Drama School.
Magnet Theatre productions prioritise the language of the body as the primary source of meaning in theatre. When it comes to spoken language, they often feature a number of different languages, including English, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans.

Projects

; Past projects
; Current projects
Over the years, Magnet Theatre has won numerous awards for its productions, among them the 1995 FNB Vita Award for Best Production of a New South African Work for Medea and the 2014 Dassie Award for Best Children's Production for TREE/BOOM/UMTHI.
Jennie Reznek has won several awards for her performances in Magnet Theatre productions, among them the 1987 Dalro Award for Best Actress for Cheap Flights and the 2009 Best Actress ABSA Aardklop National Arts Festival award for Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking.
Other awards Magnet Theatre has won include:
Magnet Theatre has been the subject of a large number of publications and has contributed to the publishing of two books: