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| Company type | PBO withNPO status |
|---|---|
| Genre | physical theatre, youth development |
| Founded | 1987; 39 years ago (1987) inCape Town,South Africa |
| Founders | Mark Fleishman, Jennie Reznek |
| Headquarters | Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa |
Key people | Mark Fleishman, Jennie Reznek, Mandla Mbothwe, Neo Muyanga, Craig Leo |
| Website | magnettheatre |
Magnet Theatre is an independent physical theatre company based inCape 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 theCederberg Municipality.
Magnet Theatre was founded in 1987 to produceCheap Flights (director: Roz Monat), starring Reznek. It re-emerged in 1991 to produceThe Show's Not over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings (director: Mark Fleishman), again starring Reznek. The show toured nationally and internationally for two and a half years.[1]
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-basedJazzart Dance Theatre between 1994 and 2007 (includingMedea,Rain in a Dead Man's Footprints, andCargo); stage adaptations ofHerman Melville'sMoby Dick (1994) andMia Couto'sVoices Made Night (2000/01); two performance pieces with Jennie Reznek (1997/2002); and four outdoor productions between 1998 and 2011.
In 1998, Magnet Theatre established theMagnet 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 theClanwilliam Arts Project (2001-2018); theCommunity Groups Intervention inKhayelitsha (2002-2007); theCommunity Arts Development in Clanwilliam (since 2007, which grew out of the Clanwilliam Arts Project); theCulture Gangs Project (since 2011); and theFarm Schools Project (since 2014).
In 2006, Magnet Theatre producedEvery Year, Every Day, I Am Walking (director: Mark Fleishman) for theAfrican Festival of Youth and Children's Theatre. The piece about refugees inAfrica subsequently toured five continents from 2007-2014 and was published in 2011.[2] It was part of a focus on migration which included works inisiXhosa andAfrikaans:ingcwaba lendoda lise cankwe ndlela (2009) andInxeba Lomphilisi (2010), both directed by Mandla Mbothwe, andDie Vreemdeling (director: Mark Fleishman).
In 2008, Magnet Theatre initiated a two-yearFulltime Training and Job Creation Programme. Since then, 58 trainees fromtownships 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 theCape Town Opera and young singers from the Cape Town Opera Studio (Heart of Redness, 2013).
In 2013, Magnet Theatre initiated a creative focus onEarly Years performance and training, developing performances for under seven-year-olds. Their first piece,TREE/BOOM/UMTHI (director: Jennie Reznek) toured the Cape Town townships,Italy,Germany, theUK, and theUS. 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, andOkiep. One of the pieces,SCOOP: kitchen play for carers and babes (director:Koleka Putuma), was the first ever South African work for mothers/fathers and babies under the age of 12 months.
In 2010, Magnet Theatre moved to its current (2018) location inObservatory, 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.
Since 1987, Magnet Theatre has produced more than 30 original works.[3]
Magnet Theatre has repeatedly collaborated with other South African and international performing arts companies, including Jazzart Dance Theatre,Baxter Theatre, Cape Town Opera (all Cape Town), Southern Edge Arts (Australia), and Théâtre Spirale (Switzerland). Magnet Theatre also has a long history of collaborating with theUniversity 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, includingEnglish, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans.
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Over the years, Magnet Theatre has won numerous awards for its productions, among them the1995 FNB Vita Award for Best Production of a New South African Work forMedea (directors: Mark Fleishman, Jennie Reznek) and the2014 Dassie Award for Best Children's Production forTREE/BOOM/UMTHI.
Jennie Reznek has won several awards for her performances in Magnet Theatre productions, among them the1987 Dalro Award for Best Actress forCheap Flights and the2009 Best Actress ABSA Aardklop National Arts Festival award (jointly with Faniswa Yisa) forEvery Year, Every Day, I Am Walking.[15]
Other awards Magnet Theatre has won include:
Magnet Theatre has been the subject of a large number of publications[18] and has contributed to the publishing of two books:
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)| International | |
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