A girl with an umbrella is running. She looks confused, frightened. In the centre of the stage on a round carpet, there is something that looks like a table or perhaps an altar. A childlike voice shouts to the girl. That's how this play opens.

It is a simple two-handed piece, which is delivered almost without words (the production is often sustained simply by Neo Muyanga's atmospheric music score). In its hour and a quarter, the performers (Jenny Reznek and Faniswa Yisa) – aided by director Mark Fleishman - give a miniature course in the performing arts, covering mime and gesture, expression and attitude.

When the production needs two men, the two performers simply put on hats behind an impromptu washing line. When the story requires the characters to ride in a truck, they sit on the table and are bounced along country roads. And so the performance space becomes vast or intimate and the focus of the production is personal and particular, or huge, generalising problems all too prevalent and all too real in many parts of the African continent.

Every Year, Every Day, I Am Walking - which originated at the Magnet Theatre in South Africa and has been performed in 13 countries around the world - is sometimes utterly captivating, and much of that rests with the charm and impact of its performers. They cover a lot of territory, both in terms of their own acting range and of the storyline - about a family forced to become refugees.

The production was designed to be portable and to take the company back to its roots – 'a compact, travelling theatre of simple physical images and the clear emotional power of abundantly talented performers', according to director Mark Fleishman. Cast and crew deliver this promise, managing to challenge, surprise, charm - and sometimes shock - along the way.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Jenny Reznek. Faniswa Yisa.

Company Credits: Writer – uncredited. Director – Mark Fleishman. Set Designer – Julia Anastasopoulos. Lighting designer – Daniel Galloway. Sound Designer - uncredited. Music – Neo Muyanga. Choreographer – Ina Wichterich. Technical Operator - uncredited. Stage Manager – Sherna Botto. Production Manager – Willem Conradie. Oval House Theatre: Technician – Francis Watson. Marketing – Debbie Vannozzi. Press – Sheridan Humphreys. Schools Liaison – Toby Clarke. Associate Producer – Nathalie Delorme. Associate Producer – Sarah Cook. Producer – Ben Evans. Company - Magnet Theatre. Website - www.magnettheatre.co.za.

END

(c) Michael Spring 2010

reviewed Tuesday 2 March 2010 / Oval House Theatre, London UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com