Magnet Theatre’s award-winning production Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking returns to the Baxter, for a short season.
Directed by Mark Fleishman and starring Jennie Reznek and Faniswa Yisa, this production celebrates the resilience of human beings and the healing power of the imagination. It traces the story of a young refugee woman who loses her family and home, brutally and irrevocably, and is forced to journey to a new place through many dangers and uncertainties.
Created in September 2006, foreshadowing the first violent attacks on Somali nationals in the Western Cape, Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking was born out of an intense empathy with – and imagining of – what it must be like to lose one’s home and to feel strange in another place.
“In 2006 the situation for refugees and asylum seekers in this country was difficult, frustrating and painful,” explains Reznek.
“With this work, we wanted to respond with a strong sense of the possibility of healing and renewal. It was created long before forced migration grew to become the theme of our age and is now, with more than 250 million migrants globally, more relevant than ever.”
Original music for the production is by Neo Muyanga, with choreographic sequences by Ina Wichterich, set by Julia Anastasopoulos (Suzelle DIY, Tali’s Wedding Diary) and lighting by Daniel Galloway.
Yisa and Reznek first performed together under Mark Fleishman’s direction in 2004 in Fireraisers. Since then this formidable team have created celebrated productions like Voices Made Night, Cargo, Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking and Autopsy.
Fleishman is a director, lecturer and writer. He is a rofessor and head of the Centre for Theatre Dance and Performance Studies at UCT. He has published many theatre texts and academic articles, mainly on South African theatre, and is a founder member of Magnet Theatre.
Reznek is an award-winning actress, teacher and director. A graduate of University of Cape Town Drama School, she studied in Paris with Jacques Lecoq for two years. She is a director and founder member of Magnet Theatre and runs the bulk of the youth development programmes.
Yisa is a multi-award-winning actress and UCT graduate with a Performer’s Diploma in Speech and Drama. Performances in recent years include, Reza de Wet’s Missing, Ityala Lamawela, Born in the RSA and What Remains, for which she won the Best Actress award at the 2018 Fleur du Cap awards.
Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking is on at the Baxter Flipside from Wednesday April 3 until Saturday April 13, every night, at 7.30pm.
There will be matinee performances on Thursdays, at 11am and on Saturdays at 3pm There is an age restriction of 10 years.
Ticket prices range from R50 to R150. Book through Webtickets
