Aggie and Ernestine are happy sisters somewhere in Africa. They play and laugh watched by their mother who cooks lovely food for them. That is until one night their village is victim of a violent attack. Ernestine disappears. Their home is destroyed by fire and Aggie and her mother just about escape. They embark on a long journey in search for healing.

Sadly a classic story about refugees. However this production transcends the characters and the location through its use of movement, staging and sound. Jennie Reznek who plays the mother is a founding member of Magnet Theatre the company behind this heartbreaking show. Trained at Lecoq in Paris she and fellow actress Faniswa Yisa bring out the poetry of the everyday through the use of shoes to animate characters or big silver bin liners as clouds of smoke which add counterpoints to hyper-realistic moments where fire and real tears appear. These counterpoints add a universal dimension to the show that is supported by a mixed race cast.

They eventually reach Cape Town in South Africa which is represented by a wire mesh skyline that later comes to represent the fence that separates the refugee mother from her missing daughter. Fire, in turn destroying and purifying and sand that recreates a place to live or flows like time between Aggie’s fingers, emphasise the absence of water and its nourishing and cleansing power. Language is sparse and oscilates between French and English and, to the exception of some rather clumsy simultaneous translation by the two characters, reinforces the feeling of otherness and displacement by the refugee mother and daughter. Pre-recorded music and sound contribute to the sense of place or lack of it and would have benefited from being performed live. Nethertheless the emotion in the audience was palpable and the final standing ovation felt well deserved.

Dates: 24 February - 13 March 2010
Times: Tues-Sat at 7.45pm
Tickets: £12 / £6 concs
Box Office: 020 7582 7680 / ...
Venue: Oval House Theatre, 52-54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW