By BRUCE DENNILL
Magnet Theatre presents new show mAnJE ! MaNJe (an epic). The show is made possible by grants
from the National Lotteries Commission and the National Arts Council of South Africa. Meat, fire, metal and plastic. What will come to define this modern era? As humankind moves closer towards the end of the Anthropocene, and the beginning of the Plasticine, will we be remembered for our ingenuity or for having engineered our destruction? Directed by Mark Fleishman with a musical score composed by Neo Muyanga and immersive visual projections by Vienna-based South African artist Marcus Neustetter, this new production draws on the story of the ancient Greek inventor and super-engineer, Daedalus, to stage a profound and prophetic lament on the human condition in the age of the machine, big data and the climate
catastrophe. A wonderful ensemble of musicians and singers combine with the Magnet Theatre Youth Company, Jennie Reznek and Mwenya Kabwe to perform what promises to be an exciting and stimulating experience, including opera, rock, dance theatre and full screen animation.
Reznek chats about her involvement in the piece.
In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare – physically, mentally and emotionally?
I try to keep physically fit so that when I start working on a production, it isn’t a shock to the body and I have the appropriate levels of stamina to sustain the rehearsal process. Magnet‘s work is always pretty physical and as I get older I can’t take that fitness as a ‘given’. I am often writing and involved in the creative process – so there is also a lot of thinking and research and collaborating with other creatives on the project that happens beforehand.
What is the single most influential performance you’ve ever seen – the one that made you feel, “This is what I want to do with my life!”?
Gosh, hard question. I wanted to be an actress since I was six years old. But I am not sure if there was one show that inspired that. I know I saw a very young Michael Atkinson as a young schoolgirl – perhaps in a Shakespeare – and thought he was wonderful! But the kind of theatre I wanted to make was clarified when I saw a production of Complicite’s, a UK company whose actors had also been trained at the same school as me – Ecole Jaques Lecoq in Paris. It was Durenmatt’s The Visit, with Catherine Hunter in the lead. Her performance was so entirely embodied and I knew that that was the kind of work that I wanted to make.
What is your favourite aspect of the industry – be it specific people, parts of the production process, particular venues/locations, or something else?
I love being on the rehearsal floor with a company – making, playing, trying out ideas. I love being able to make work from stories that I am obsessed with – finding creative forms for personal stories – and I love that we do that as a community. It feels like such a privilege. Even though I have made quite a few solo shows, there is always a community of people working together on the piece – directors, designers, technicians – and I love that collaborative community aspect of what we do. I think I am also addicted to the connection with an audience. I love the feeling of being able to communicate with people, to connect with other human beings. I am very proud and happy to make work in our home at Magnet Theatre, but I also love working in other spaces, particularly those spaces that ‘hold’ the work in a caring way. For example, I love working at the Baxter Theatre. They also have the similar sense of community and passion and respect for artists and the theatre.
What has been your scariest onstage/on-set moment so far (anything from forgetting words or cues to accidents or other unforeseen events)?
Magnet Theatre collaborated with Jazzart Dance theatre on Rain In A Dead Man’s Footprints, directed by Mark Fleishman. There was lots of fire in that production and when we performed at Oude Libertas, a tree behind the stage caught fire during the show. We laugh about it now, but we wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t invite us back!!
Tell us about your current production and what makes your character interesting to play?
Manje! Manje is a wonderful collaboration of different disciplines and I think that’s what makes it so exciting. There is an interesting poetic text that Mwenya Kabwe and I wrote and a musical score by Neo Muyanga with choral singing and opera, dance and live music. The set, designed by Craig Leo, is kind of a screen also for the most amazing animations drawn for the production by Marcus Nuestetter. And all of that is pulled together by director Mark Fleishman. The piece explores characters and events from the Cretan cycle of myths – stories of Europa, King Minos, the Minotaur, Daedalus, Ariadne and Theseus – that speak to our current context. We have also imagined other lesser characters into those stories, which tell the events from different perspectives. We are choosing to go back to these old stories in order to speak about the future – the future of Artificial Intelligence, global warming and the environmental crisis we are facing. Basically, the piece asks the question about what the future of the planet and our human place in it is, if we continue on this trajectory. I play Daedalus. He is crazy, obsessed and driven. He is one of the mythical characters from the Cretan cycle and is considered to be a skillful artisan or craftsman. He’s the forerunner of the brilliant scientists and inventors of today. He is a complex character and represents the part of our human nature that struggles to accept death and mortality, always trying to bend nature and the natural world to the will and purpose of human beings. He is also trying to find ways to live longer, more and better, which results in a greater disconnection from nature. He represents the darker side of a relentless pursuit of innovation. He is ambitious and prideful about his intellect and all the things that he can make. He is also a tragic figure, as no-one can escape aging and death. He is also instrumental in the death of his only son Icarus, as it is Daedalus who builds the wings for his son who flies too close to the sun and falls to his death into the Icarian sea. I am really excited about this work – its looks unflinchingly at the environmental crisis, the pace at which AI is moving and the implications of that for our human future. It also feel like a big work, operatic and epic!! There are 11 actors on stage, with two opera singers and two musicians. I thinks it going to be powerful!
