Cape Town – Playwright, actor and director Jennie Reznek is a co-founder of Magnet Theatre, one of the country’s most celebrated theatre companies.
Its training programmes and productions have received acclaim and the shows have toured around the country and abroad to four continents and 24 festivals.
She returns to the stage in her first solo show in two decades called I Turned Around and She Was Gone, on from February 18 to March 14 at the Magnet Theatre.
How widely have you travelled?
I studied in Paris at Ecole Jacques Lecoq for two years and also lived in the US for a year as an exchange student. I have also travelled with my theatre company, Magnet Theatre. For example, the play Every Year Every Day I am Walking toured 21 countries including to Cameroon, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe Brazil, India, Japan, the US, UK, Sweden, France and Germany. I have also toured with other productions to Reunion, Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and visited family and friends in Yugoslavia, Canada, Israel and Barbados.
In each place where we tour, I always try to have at least one holiday or tourist day to explore.
Where was your favourite time spent abroad?
Japan – first to Okinawa in the south where we couldn’t leave because a typhoon had grounded all the flights and then to Yakumo on the Japanese sea. It is the most foreign country that I have been to.
Your worst experience on holiday?
In Cameroon, where our plane tried to land several time unsuccessfully in Yaounde and then was diverted to Douala. A few months later a plane crashed trying to land at that same airport in Yaounde.
Your funniest experience?
Waiting five hours to perform in Yaounde while the festival director kept telling us that the audience was “in the process of arriving”.
What do you avoid during a holiday?
Sitting still.
Best meal abroad?
In Paris when we were performing at La Cartoucherie, the festival (Ere De Jeu) provided us with lunch at the theatre. These included delicious simple meals of fresh baguette, fabulous french cheeses, wine and fruit. And mouth-watering French pastries for dessert.
Your favourite place to drink a glass of wine or to have sundowners on your travels?
Nature’s Valley beach, South Africa.
What have you learnt from your travels?
The world is foreign. The world is familiar. And it’s both. The world is huge. The world is small. And it’s both.
Ideal travelling companion?
My partner of 26 years, Mark Fleishman.
Culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?
Definitely not adrenalin – love wayfaring, getting lost and absorbing the “feel” of a new place.
Greatest travel luxury?
Italian ice creams. And the eternal hope of being upgraded to business class on long-haul flights.
Holiday reading?
South African writing: Henrietta Rose-Innes, Zakes Mda, Damon Galgut, Penny Lorimer, Nadia Davids and Mozambican writer Mia Couto.
Favourite drive?
The road from Soussusvlei to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
Dream trip?
Fish River Canyon. Anywhere in the desert.
As a seasoned traveller and flyer can you share some tips?
Let go. Travel light. Plan ahead and then stop planning once the journey begins.
Where next?
India then the UK (London and Bath with the play Tree/Boom/Umthi.
Weekend Argus