After 23 years of restless wandering and groundbreaking work, innovative theatre company Magnet Theatre is ready to open its new home to audiences.
The company celebrates with a run of Die Vreemdeling at the Magnet at the Old Match Factory in Lower Main Road, Observatory from January 25 until February 14.
The company has been using the venue as a training and rehearsal space since January last year and has slowly been accumulating equipment, readying the premises as a real performance space that can seat about 150 people.
They launch the venue with their acclaimed Afrikaans production Die Vreemdeling. The piece has already toured successfully along the N7 at outdoor venues and at the Aardklop Festival in 2010, where it was nominated for the Aardvark Best New Afrikaans Production Award.
It is directed by Magnet founding member Mark Fleishman and stars Ephraim Gordon, Rudi Malcolm and Dann-Jaques Mouton.
Frances Marek wrote the short story, from which the cast devised the piece, and serves as assistant director.
The play tells the story of a small town along the N7 which has fallen from prosperity onto harder times.
The inhabitants have built a fence around the town and do not allow anyone to breach it.
But one day a young girl, who is out collecting water, meets a stranger who is in need of her help. Her interaction with him leads to unforeseen developments that affect the entire town.
The piece features Magnet’s trademark use of physical theatre, music and dance with choreography by Jennie Reznek and Ina Wichterich.
The themes of otherness and identity which the piece explores will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the company’s other work.
“It’s a very, very simple story told so lovingly that when the emotions hit, they hit hard,” Marek says.
“The physicality makes it really accessible. Like all Magnet productions, the language in which the piece is performed is never a barrier to audiences.”
l Die Vreemdeling runs at the Magnet at the Old Match Factory in Lower Main Road, Observatory from January 25 until February 14. Tickets: R65 from 021 448 3436