Post-colonial stories that resonate

SOUTH African brewed theatre is finding huge audiences internationally. At the end of January and into February, Cape Town’s Magnet Theatre dazzled audiences in the US, when it staged Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking at the University of Massachusetts as part of a week-long residency. Back on home ground, the company is staging its acclaimed Voices Made Night – based on short stories by Mozambican writer Mia Couto – at the Baxter’s Flipside from February 28 to March 23.

The tour to the University of Massachusetts came as a result of an invitation by Professor Megan Lewis, who runs a course on South African theatre. The South African-born academic saw a production of Magnet’s years ago and has been a big fan ever since, says Magnet’s co- founder, Jennie Reznek. This year, Lewis is bringing a group of post-graduate students to the National Arts Festival.

Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking is a two-hander, which makes it reasonably portable for touring. It has toured to 18 countries. Voices Made Night has a cast of seven so it is not easy to pack up and take on the road. There have been several versions of Every Year, explains Reznek. The first was staged in 2001 at Artscape with three performers. Composer Neo Muyanga came on board on another version. Along the way, it has won heaps of awards. Fast forward a decade or so and Reznek says that it was time to re-visit the production. People were always asking: “When are you bringing it back?” The company re-staged aspects of the previous versions and added different stories. “When we first read his stories, we got ter- ribly excited. Couto has such a response to a social-political context but within this wonderful magical realism. The stories are very African – post-colonial societies trying to find their feet.”

There’s plenty in his writing which resonates with us. For example, what does one do with statues from the old regime and how does one go about re-naming streets? In one story, a man rents out his shoes so people can dress up for special occasions. In another, a woman is jilted and falls in love with a statue but is admonished for her inability to let go of old attachments. “Light, dream and aspiration can be drained out by poverty but Couto shows how human beings can be ingenious, creative and soulful in the face of it,” says Reznek.

● Tickets R90-R120 from Computicket on 0861 915 800.