Review: Magnet Theatre’s beautiful and meditative Mina Thina

Mina Thina is on at 10.30am at Magnet Theatre in Observatory, until December 13, 2024 as part of Magnet’s Summer Season. It is a beautiful, reflective and meditative piece of theatre. “Mina Thina literally means – me/us. It looks at our desire to be alone and our desire also to be part of a community and that is something we carry with us from when we are little to when we are grown up”, reflects Jenni Reznek, the director. “It’s a beautiful little piece … with shadow puppets, beautiful objects and singing.” https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D8ig8UPch/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Reznek devised Mina Thina with The Magnet Youth Company. It is aimed at 3-7 year olds but is very much for the whole family as it explores Mina/Thina/Me/Us – the search for community space and individual space and within that the ability to share and be open to interaction with others. Mina Thina navigates work, home and school as we move between spaces and with each other.

I loved watching Mina Thina. The young audience was enthralled by this multi-lingual, physical charged narrative. I was fascinated by the focus and “gaze” by the actors (Lusanda Soboyise, Melusi Molefe and Yvonne Msebenzi), held constantly with the audience. When someone or something new arrives, the actors share that with the audience – non-verbally and verbally.

I spoke to the actors about the deliberate use of the gaze in theatre for little ones and they told me that they have participated in workshops, run by Magnet on the use of the gaze. There is no old style theatre – “hello children, let us clap”. [See https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EXfrmdkdg/?mibextid=WC7FNe] They lead with clapping and through gesture, they get the children clapping. Lusanda Soboyise, Melusi Molefe and Yvonne Msebenzi are part of Magnet Youth Company. The company was involved in devising Mina Thina with Reznek. The joy of the performers in sharing the narrative is very much part of the piece. Their incredible physical performance – tinged with clowning – imbues Mina Thina with energy and quirkiness. I think that Mina Thina treats children as sentient beings with the ability to think and draw their own conclusions. They are not treated as babies in this piece of theatre and are encouraged to think – and respond.

The stunning playful design by Puleng Stewart frames the space with a play mat made from lino, containing toys and objects. The play mat contains the objects and the actors and draws the wye into the narrative. Lighting design by Themba Stewart (they are sister and brother) cleverly rings in the shifts between situations and scenes. There are challenges in lighting theatre for early years because of the “gaze” and that means that the theatre cannot go dark. How does one signal the night and dark in the light? I discussed this with Themba and yes, his lighting is very much keyed in to the need to keep facial expressions readable at all times – actors and audience. His lighting plot for Mina Thina is exquisite.

Mina Thina is a delight of a show. It is a meditative piece which invites the young audience into a world of Mina/Thina/Me/Us. At the end of the show, the performers handed out apples to the youngsters – and others in the theatre. Themba told me that this has become signature Magnet Theatre for youngsters – sharing fruit afterwards. It enhances the sharing and caring leitmotif in the play. In winter, they handed out naartjies. Mina Thina is highly recommended. A must see for the festive season.

✳ Featured image: Molefe Yvonne Msebenzi and Lusanda Soboyise in Magnet Theatre’s Mina Thina. Photo: Phakamani Waka