OXFORD PLAYSCRIPTS . of > + a Y, 7] Uy, \\ ‘i 7 ‘in iy i et wit = ne 3 : i he V4 UY My i} T \CONTENTS ABOUT THE PLAY THE CHARACTERS THE PLAY ACTIVITIES 54 CONTENTS ANANSIApouT THE PLAy Anansi started life as a piece of Theatre in Education (TIR), It was first produced by Breakout and toured around Primary schools in Berkshire. Like all good pieces of TIF, it aimed to help the young audience think about things in new ways. The company were faced with a problem, though: how do you get children as young as six or seven to realise what it would he like to be taken as a slave without terrifying them, or just making them feel very sorry for the victims? Throughout 1990, Breakout had been working with a number of story-tellers from around the world, and had invited Alistair Campbell to share with them his methods of working in drama with traditional performers in Africa. The company realised that the traditional stories people tell are a sort of coded history. They discovered that the lively stories of the West Indies and the old colonial states of the USA had been carried across the Atlantic by people who had been taken from their homes as slaves. The familiar tale of the tricksy Brer Rabbit (re-told in Walt Disney’s rather sugary Song of the South). for example, is closely linked to African stories, not least the cunning yet somehow endearing character of Anansi - a spider who always seems to manage to survive no matter what ‘The result of this research is Anansi. Although the play certainly gives an insight into the horror of the slave trade, is main purpose is to explore the coping with real-life experiences alue of stories as a way of the Old Woman says 10 the play, ‘I will teach you stories. They are a treasure no-o1te can steal, even if they have stolen your body.’ By using these traditional stories, Alistair mannges what may seem impossible to write hope, 4 play about cruelty and ignorance that is funny, full ot and celebrates People’s resilience and capacity to learn from their past,Anansi has undergone a number of changes since it was first performed by Breakout in September 1990. In 1991 it was extensively re-written for the London Bubble Theatre Company. The script presented here has elements of both performance texts. PLAY ABOUT THE ANANSITue CHARACTERS On the Ship Captain Boy Girl Woman Sailor Auctioneer In the Forest of Stories Anansi Tiger Snake Mancrow Servants King Gran Soliday Patricia Arabella Bob Ratbat Monkey Parrot Centipede 23 Gerbils Her Cat Dog Crab Anansi was first performed by Breakout Theatre in Education Company in September 1990.eee Tue Goop Sup Horr WestT AFRICAN Coast, 1791 eeeeeeceee ere ccccecceseccccvceececces THE CABIN Listen ... hear the last sounds of a ship preparing for the Aulantic voyage. The Boy is seated at a desk, reading and writing. His father, the Captain consults ledgers and maps. Boy Father, why do I have to study when everyone else is up on deck? Captain Silence, boy, and look to your books. Boy But Father, I still don’t see how all those people on the shore can be a cargo. 2 Captain Books or no books, you have a lot to learn on this voyage. = Look to it and do not bother me with damn fool questions. Z < Boy But who are the people on the shore, Father? S Captain You are on a serious trading venture whilst you are on my ship, and as the ship’s boy you'll address me as Captain, especially in front of the ratings. You'll learn all about the cargo and such soon enough. Boy They looked just like people to me. But they were tied together. They looked frightened, Why ...? Captain [Cutting him off] 1 do not have to give you explanations. I am your father. Boy I thought you said your name was Captain. Captain [Hits him] You young pup! Have that for your cheek. And there’s worse waiting for you when you get down below. Coc c cece rec ccee reese esreereceenrareeessssecsccoes ON DECK Look ... a Girl is waiting to be taken below, She ts terrified. She 7 2 rE rerestands, tied to several others. She calls out to deckhands pass. But they don’t understand her language, They ae they ! 2 t at her or slow down. look Where are we? Are we going to dic? What is this with all the people tied together and so much er fear? And why has the world come to an end? B nothingne! Girl Place, ying and lue, blue Water reaches up and touches the sky. Where is my mother my t? Where did all the pale men come from? Why don’t you answer me? Sailor Come along, my beauty. Less jabber and down the hatch with you. I don’t know! At least a bale of cotton doesn’t chatter in some heathen tongue, and whatever it is you're blathering about you'll have to get yourself down this hatch, Can’t throw you and damage the goods eh? Move! Water, waves and more water. The He bundles her down the hatch. core cece eeeeceeccccceee THE CABIN Boy [Reading] Yesterday we put in to the West African coast for the last time before the long haul to the Indies. I was looking forward to coming on this trip with Father: I really was. 1 thought we'd be away for a few months, and I knew we'd be coming back to Bristol with rum and coffee. I did not think to be so pu: ed. No answers come to my questions. Who Were those people on the shore? Herded together like cattle, Some of them were crying and falling down with fear. Some Were whipped and beaten, One old woman was standing suff and proud, with her hands tied, waiting her turn t0 BF loaded aboard. She looked so calm as if she'd done it belore and didn’t care, But she can't have, can she? TREY brought them dow y upstream, an she can’t h en, She cau Grandmamt ! n the river from far away have seen the sea, even, until just th mY eye but turned away, She reminded me of ; «g ship. There's 09° You're my only friend on this ship tall tell YOU ‘aches me knots and talks to me- Dear Diary, Sailor who te,peer eee cee eeceseccceeeseee THE HOLD Girl Woman Girl Woman coe THE CABIN Captain all my secret thoughts if Father gives me the chance from time to time. It is almost completely dark, but look ... the outline of hundreds of people packed together in rows on the floor, lying on narrow shelves that line the walls. Some are tied back to back to an upright beam. One of them is the Girl. A little light filters dowon from a crack in the roof. Behind her is the dim outline of someone tied to the other side of the beam. We will hear but never see this person. I remember the river, carrying me further and further away from my mother on its great brown back. They tied us together. I don’t know why. They threw us into a huge canoe, bigger than the biggest war canoe of our tribe, and I didn’t know why. The jungle slid past. Two green walls of giant trees. We lay in the bottom of the boat, tied together like goats waiting for the knife, and I didn’t know why. Now all I see are people tied together, chained together, crushed together in the dark. It’s so dark, Mama, like the big hut with no windows where the tribe stores the grain Everyone is lying in filth and sickness and fear. Please, please come and hold me, Mama. Tell me this isn’t true. What's true is true. Don’t fight it. You're alive and it’s true. It’s true. Who are you? I can feel your warmth but I can’t see you. Tam who I am, and you are who you are. No amount of fear and darkness can change that truth. Hold on to it! Hold on! eo eeccevccceee oe cceccccccs Dictation, a e ANANSISo Yes, Captain. | Boy ort of call on the African y Captain Our last port of call on frican coast. Only three staves of the last batch of forty have died on the six-day river passage. May God be thanked for it. We have branded and Hocumented, and all slaves are now insured against death on route to the Indies. They are to be exercised daily in the hope that fresh air will reduce disease. One cup of maize porridge per slave per day should ensure that stores are sufficient for the voyage. Thav'll be all. = Boy Yes, Captain Fleece cccccccvccccscces cece cee e eee eveseseeees THE HOLD Listen. A Girl is crying. Crying in the darkness. \ z Z Woman Child, Child. Listen to me. Don’t waste your tears. You owe Z it to your ancestors to live. Girl I just want my Mama. I don’t know where I am. Oh; please help me! Please! Sailor [From above] Shut your noise down there! Woman And how can you or I help each other? Girl I don’t know! I am so frightened! I am sitting in my owe filthy mess. The two women sit quietly for a moment. Woma oman Riddle me this, riddle me that. Gi : irl Are you telling me a riddle? My grandmother does that, 0 Woma an Riddle me this, riddle me that. Girl 7 What is your riddle? Woma oe What part of you stays free when your arms and legs tied? 10 _a€!,Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl But all of me is tied. None of me is free. Think, child, think. But I’m scared! I think I might go mad! I think I want to die! Tell me what you see! Just what you see. Only dark. Why do you ask me when you see the same as I do ... nothing. Only nothing? You know what I can see. Rows and rows of people. Men, women and children, Piled up like wood for fire. And what else? Why are you asking me these things? Don’t question your elders! Tell me what you see. I see a little light. Just a little light through a crack in the 3B roof, Like light through the leaves of a great dark tree. g So what part of you is free? < Well ... my eyes, I suppose. And what else? My stomach. I’m hungry. They give us so little. And what else? What else is free? I don’t know! Why do you ask me such things? You're not my mother! Tell me what you see. Ooh, I hate spiders. Sometimes they make webs in the roof of our hut. And I get my mother to throw them outside, And if she’s not there I get a big stone and I squash them dead and flat. Squish! ‘And do you see a spider? Yes. Why else would I talk about him? ryANANS: Tell me what he is doing. Woman Girl Why? What for? Woman Just to pass the time ... eecccccceeeccces secs esse reese reese seesoney ee THE CABIN Captain Take this log entry, boy, and then you can help in the hold, Boy What’s to be done in the hold, Captain? Captain One thing at a time. We have embarked for Jamaica without incident. As we earlier feared, the fever which was rife on the coast before our departure has taken hold on the ship. Crew and slaves alike are showing signs of infection. Boy Captain, what happens to the cargo when we get to Jamaica? Captain We auction them, and if this fever leads to depreciation, it’ be at a loss, though the insurance will provide at least some recompense, Boy Who will be recompensed, sir? Captain Our masters in London, so start praying they are merciful should we lose too many. Boy Our masters, sir? Captain Yes, boy, our masters. Do you think there is a man alive who has no master of one kind or another? eee rece ec escceccccce eocccccceet THE HOLD A Girl peering through the dark at a spider we cannot see. A Woman coughing, See how the same coed links them all together, , Woma | [Coughs.]Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Are you ill? I wish we weren’t tied so I could see your face. You are, so you can’t. You'll have to use your ears for eyes. But that’s impossible! Don’t tie yourself up with words like impossible. Ears can be better at seeing than eyes can, if you listen and don’t just hear. Now tell me: what is our Anansi doing now? Anansi? Anansi is the name of that spider. Look at him! He can hardly get his web started! He scrambles up to that beam, and then falls, and then he creeps up again, then he falls again, and each time he tries he can’t get a single thread to stick to that beam. Why doesn’t he just give up and start in a new place? Maybe he'll just give up and die ... @ But he is free, and you are not! ANANSI But he’s so little and weak. He doesn’t know any better. Look at him! He’s just trying and getting nowhere. Wait! He managed! He got one little thread onto the beam! A little, little spider with thin, thin legs. Ha! Anansi. Who gave him that name? You may think he’s too weak and small to have a name, but that little spider, Anansi, was once a king. Only lions and elephants can be kings. And why do you say that? Because they’re the strongest and the most beautiful. Listen. I will tell you a story, An Anansi story.Tue Forest oF STORIES Imagine ... a forest full of stories. It looks just the way you see in in your mind: a mix of fairy tales you heard as a child to high- tech cartoon fantasy. It is all places and all styles. In the Forest of Stories, there is no such thing as time. The Girl is still tied up in the ship, but through the trees we can dimly make out beams and ropes ... or are they branches and creepers? 1 NAMING THE STORIES Anansi Tam Anansi, small and quick Some folk are bigger, but usually thick A crafty spider’s what I am ['m never without the smartest plan The smartest plan and the cleverest head Is how I keep from getting dead °Cos the forest is full of every kind Of creature you can bring to mind From Tiger to Rabbit to Snake to Bee And every one is bigger than me But how do I do it? Wait and see I can teach you things if you listen to me. ‘Two legs to dance and two to run ‘Two are free for banana fun And the other two apart from those Are for scratching my head and picking my z Zz < Z Ose. A werrible roar thunders through the forest. ad. Tiger’s I'm dea that the flowers dd to be ‘Tiger comes this way. One false move and o strong. birds preterm “Phe monkeys wers wh 80 royal, Tiger’s so bold, Tiger's 8 close up when Tiger comes by. The closed-up flowers when ‘Tiger comes t pretend to be birds pretending to be ¢ ‘Tiger comes by, And the elephants . by Josed-up HoTiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Anansi! Tiger, Tiger, burning bright. You're the boss by day or night. Sweet talking me Anansi? Forget it. I've been thinking. ‘Thinking? Well, that’s big change for you, Tiger! What do you mean? Answer me, or I'll pull your arms and legs and brains out, one by one. Just that you’re so busy roaring and stomping about the forest and being grand and frightening people and ... that sort of thing. Not much time left to think when you've got that kind of schedule. You royals have it tough. THE FOREST. T’'ve been thinking about our stories. Stories? The stories that will be told of our fame, our power and our deeds long after we are gone and /Heaven forbid) forgotten. They will be called Incredibly Grand Magnificent and Wise Reyond Belief Tiger Stories and I shall star in all of them ANANSI Oh, that will never do. What do you mean? Too obvious. Pll make toothpicks out of your ribs and a hat out of your bum. I just meant that if they were named after a less magnificent and heroic and unbelievable person than yourself, like Rabbit or Mouse or possibly even a little squirt like ... me, then the people, all over the world, to the end of time, would be so amazed when they found out that YOU were the real star of the stories that they would be even more impressed, your Majesty, than they would have been in the first place, You can make words stand on their heads, Anansi. But I won’t let our stories .., my stories .,, be named after you unless you do the impossible to prove you deserve it The impossible?THE FOREST ANANSI Tiger Anansi Tiger Bring me Mister Snake, tied to a pole, and the nami ny stories will be yours. iB Of the Til bring you Mister Snake, tied to a pole, quick-quick chop-chop, swift-swift .. 7 Get on with it! Not that you've got a hope ... [He goes proudly off] ccc ccccccccccccerscsosasere oor 2 TRICKING SNAKE Anansi Snake Anansi Snake Now, Mister Snake is a clever man But I will catch him if I can He’s wise and shiny, cool and long Smart and cross and VERY strong But though I’m tiny and he’s big Let’s try him with a juicy Pig! Along comes Snake. Somehow, Anansi has found a pig which he leaves in the middle of the path with a rather obvious noose dangling in front of it which anyone with a long enough neck can easily avoid. Yum, yum. A nice little tasty little, juicy little pig. What a shame someone has tried to set him in a trap for me. Silly, stupid, so, so, dumb: Pl just stretch out my neck and gobble "um! Oh, nits, bugs and maggots! ‘And blast as well! A better trap is what I need. Let’s try him with a chicken. icken, which he has This time Anansi ties the string t0 a chi rh the other end amazingly found! He hides behind a bush cei wrapped around one of his many le My, my, my, what a super, succulent, salivating Surprise. What a pity it comes complete with a trap, yet A517: Tiljust slide my neck sideways and gobble "um. and All Snake needs to do is give the string a hefty yank, path before him. Anansi ends up on his back in theAnansi Snake Anansi Snake Anansi Snake Anansi Snake Anansi Snake Anansi Snake All right, Mr Snake. I give up. It was the only way I could think of saving your reputation but it’s failed and I apologise for any inconvenience caused. Reputation? What has setting silly little traps got to do with my supreme reputation? Well ... now that I can see you close up, as it were, I’m sure that Tiger and Rabbit, Parrot and Monkey and everyone else in the Forest were wrong about you being so short. Short! How dare you! I am the longest creature in the whole wide world! Yes, well I know that now, and you know that, but everybody else decided that this year’s prize for the Longest Creature of the Year should go to ... no, I can’t say it ... you'll only be upset. @ Who? What? Who gets this prize instead of me? I’m the longest creature in the forest and everybody knows it! ANANSI Well ... we were thinking of giving the prize to that bamboo tree over there ... not a very interesting choice, but the committee did agree ... A bamboo tree! But any silly, simpering, snivelling little snit can see that I’m longer than that stupid tree! And I'm wise and superior and intelligent as well! Yes, but none of the committee are here to prove that to, and even I can’t tell your real length when you're alll coiled up. Oh, for goodness sake, Why do I have to do everything myself? Being the cleverest and most beautiful being in the entire forest /not to mention by far the longest) is so tedious. sometimes. Oh, it must be awful being as superior as you. Stop grovelling. Now here's what we do, You cut down the bamboo tree, tie me to it so that all my coils retehed out, out, out, then you carry me to the Longest Creature of the Year Committee and I win, Is that clear? 17zB Zz < Zz < 18 Anansi Snake Tiger Snake Tiger Snake Anansi Perfectly clear, Mr Snake. Well, hurry up then, I haven’t got all day! Anansi ties Snake 10 the tree. Just as he’s finished, Tigey comes back. Anansi, I don’t know how you do it, but I suspect your methods are not quite honest. So, where’s my prize? Anansi, I don’t know what Snake means, but the stories we live in will be called the Anansi stories from this day on. As for you, Mr Snake, have you any idea how stupid you look? Pll get you for this, Anansi, you ... Using what for legs, my friend? you ... arachnid! You're all tied up, you cannot bend When you can squiggle from your tree Then you can settle things with me Your strings are tied, your trap is set And scissors aren’t invented yet. And that, my friends, is why they call the stories after Anansi .. that’s me!Ett EE EERE On Boarp eoeeeee eeceee seccccccccce THE HOLD Listen ... even in the darkest dark there is laughter. Girl So Anansi was the weakest and strongest at the same time. Woman Yes. You listen and you learn. When I was a child my mother told all the Anansi stories to me, and now we are together I will tell some of those stories to you. a Girl But you’re not my mother. a Woman What good is your mother to you now? Girl I don’t know. Woman Can she make you strong? = Zz Girl The thought of her does. z Zz Woman Listen! You must be strong the way Anansi is strong. Strong . on the inside. And you do have a mother. Girl But she isn’t here! Woman Africa is your mother. I will teach you stories. They are a treasure no one can steal, even if they have stolen your body. Tell me what you see. Girl No! Woman Tell me, girl: tell me what you see. Girl “The beginning of a web in the dark. How strong those tiny threads must be for Anansi to swing from them, Woman Strong enough, you see? From inside himself he finds the strength to make his web: just enough and no more, Enough is all he needs to catch a fly. 19Z Zz < Girl Woman Girl Woman Pee cee rre ere cccccccccvccerescecesscens THE CABIN Boy Captain Boy Captain Boy Captain Boy Captain Boy Captain Boy Captain Boy How did you know a fly was in the web? I didn’t see gg you spoke, and you can’t see the web at alll tl Do I need to see something to know it’s really there? No, I don’t suppose so. So it is with strength. See how two men share such a small space. Miles and miles apart. [Reading] Last night I heard them singing down below. The song was as deep as the sea, but warm, not cold. I don’t know if I want to know what it’s like down in the hold. ‘What is that book there? The little blue one. It is nothing, Captain, just a kind of diary. A diary? That sort of nonsense is for lasses. Put it away and get on with your work. But you keep a diary, Captain. These are the ship’s journals and accounts. The ship’s log. But they still tell a story. ‘The only story that counts, young man. The story that says, that money makes the world go round. j Is Mr Newton wrong, then, to talk of gravity? Smart talk me, young fellow, and I'll whip you. Sorry, Father, Captain, Captain,THE HOLD Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Woman Girl Mother? Are you there? I was walking in the forest. But you're all tied up, like me! Weren’t you listening? All I can hear is crying. People are getting sick. You must listen ever more carefully. Not with sick ears but with forest ears that hear the health of the sick and the last breath of the healthy. Peer into the darkness. See, in the background, two sailors untying a body and dragging it out of sight. Hear their mumbled curses. What or who are they cursing? Oh, look! Mama, look! They’re dragging away a man! He doesn’t move! ANANSI Silence! Don’t let them notice you! But what are they doing? How rough and cruel their language sounds. Like animals! live, and die. Well, the pale men deserve to die. Who can say who deserves to live or die? Listen again. What do you hear in them? Hard noises. They act as if we aren’t really here. If they try to drag me away from you, I'll bite them till they bleed. Then they'll flog you, and what will you have achieved? Haven't you seen them flog the others? To them you're not a person, just a thing. | You're still not listening. Animals are never cruel. They only Will they eat us? 2122 Woman Girl Woman Sailor Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman i Not the parts you can see. They eat your soul and leave you ‘ our body empty. I pity them. Live well, die well, that’s all And pity them? Shh! Look, and learn. A Sailor and the Boy come past, but stop and look and say... Now see this old °un here, boy. We have to keep an eye on her for the fever. If she looks any worse than this it’s over the side. But why? Orders, lad. It’s for the sake of the others. Come on with you. It stinks like Death’s own backyard down here and you're white as a lite ghost yourself. They go on their way, brushing aside a spider’s web as they pass. ‘That one was just a boy my age. They don’t come in just one size, child. Even these great conquerors can’t build a person from nothing. They grow just like you. I know it, Mother. That’s our secret, like spinning the web. Now you're showing strength. Weave your little web, like a dream in the dark, and wait, wait, wait. But what are we waiting for? Not knowing is part of the strength of it. But they are throwing people away! Riddle me this, Riddle me that. What is your riddle? Listen to my story,Tue Forest or Storrs eee reece ccecccccccccncrccsccee cee eoeeesoeoeseene In this story animals and people are mixed up together. Soliday and Gran are human, so is the King. Soliday is a hero, any hero you like. 1 THE WORLD BLOTTED OUT Animals Animals Mancrow Leopards leap and bunnies bounce Peacocks preen, flamingoes flounce The Forest of Stories is alive With birds on the wing and bees in the hive. With a buzz and a flap, we dance the day We dance, we dance our cares away With a shriek and a squawk, we dance the day We dance, we dance our cares away. Thunder rolls across the darkening sky. Mancrow’s coming! Despair and death! Close your eyes and bate your breath! Huge as horror, vast as night Blotting the sun out, eating light Close your eyes and bate your breath Mancrow’s coming! Despair and death! In comes Mancrow, as dark and huge and horrible as any of ‘you would expect a creature called Mancrow to be. Bring me your babies, bring me your eggs [ll drain your skulls to the desperate dregs Tl suck out your eyes and empty your veins Pll guzzle your guts and I'll feast on your brains T’ve eaten them old and I’m hungry for new And once I’ve had them, V’ll devour all of YOU! There is a lot of screaming and panic — Just as you a expect! zB Z < Z < 23a Z é Z < 24 2 THE PROCLAMATION Servant King Servant King Servant King Servant King Servant King Servant King Servant King Hear ye! Hear ye! O yes! O no! O maybe! Hear ye here and hear ye there Hear left ears right here and right ears over there! O dearest friends ... Ears of the living, ears of the dead . O public true On either side of the average head ... Shut UP! Iwas merely doing my job, sire. Yes, well, you've done it. Now scram, Typical. ‘What was that? Mythical, sire, I said mythical. What is? [He whispers to the Servant] Look. I’ve got the public to address here and they don’t just sit and gawp, you know ... as a rule... I said mythical, sire, this huge Mancrow bird eating up the whole world and everything ... selfish, I call it Don’t tell them the whole proclamation! I’m supposed to be King! I am King! Ladies and Gentlemen, good and true Boy have I got news for you Mancrow’s back ~ as you have heard [He glares at the Servant] That mythical, magical, murderous bird Whose wings have plunged us into night And fearful, fumbling, fidgeting fright!eee eceereccccccccccccces Whoever can save us from this threat In addition to untold wealth will get ‘The hand of my daughter and the rest of her too If they can PROVE they’re the one who slew This horrible, hungry, hideous hawk. Now, let’s see some action and less fancy talk. 3 THE INITIATION Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday Gran Soliday? Soliday? Here, Gran. But what are you doing? You've just BEEN out hunting! ‘This isn’t ordinary hunting, Gran. Now, Soliday. I may be old and splintery-boned ... Gran ... Don’t interrupt me when I’m enjoying being a miserable old woman! I may be old and creaky-kneed ... Gran, I’m going ... I may be old and ... No, really you're not! ... crotchety-fingered, but ... Gran, I’m going to help the King ... I may be old and ... Look, I’ve said you're not ... rustily-elbowed ... Yes, alright then, so you're a decrepit old windbag! Then let me look you in the eye, That's where the truth is. Stand up to me, and you can probably manage this scrawny old Mancrow and still have time to fetch me some mangoes on the way home. Hold still. (Looks him in the eye) You'll do. ANANSISoliday h me luck then, Gran. I'm off to kill Mancrow with my very own bow. Gran Wait. You need arrows. Soliday Oh, P'll whittle them as I go along. Gran No ordinary arrows will do. Wait, I said I'ma sharp old woman, as you know And I’ve six sharp points before you go. She seems to conjure from nowhere six spectacular arrows. This is for hope: without it, we quail This is for wits: without them, we fail This is for fear: your fear makes you strong This is for anger at everything wrong g This is your name, simple and true And this is the secret held only by you. Zz Now go, without a word. You have everything you need. Zz z oe eee eee 4 THE BATTLE Mancrow Good morning to you, Soliday. Soliday Good morning to you, Mancrow, bird of darkness. Mancrow And how might I help you, Soliday? It’s far too late to run away. Soliday Just sit still then, ugly one ‘And eat my arrows one by one. Mancrow Pipsqueak! ‘Trying to kill me? You pitiful thing! Iv’s like tying up the night with a noose of string ‘Trying to shoot stormclouds with a straw V'll skewer you through with a single claw! One by one, Soliday fires the arrows in the order given bY Gran, 26Soliday ‘Take that! Mancrow Your hope means nothing to me ... Soliday And that! Mancrow Your wits are far too wee! Soliday And that! Mancrow Your fear is justified ... Soliday And that! a Z Mancrow Your anger’s empty pride. Z Soliday And that! Mancrow Your name will be snuffed out ... Soliday AND THIS! @ Mancrow What's ‘this’? Your faith? Your doubt? = Your sins? Your patience? Mercy? Might? Zz That’s odd ... I usually get this right. Zz Which means I’m wrong, which as King said Means that I might as well be ... | Thud. He’s dead! i Soliday takes a feather. Anansi appears from where he’s been i watching and steals one. i Anansi If in doubt, chicken out. If there’s a prize, improvise. When you've a thirst, get there first. If there’s liquor, get there quicker J am the man that killed Mancrow . Se ecccccccscccereseeeeeeeseseseeeee . 5 THE REWARD Anansi Jam the man that killed Mancrow ,.. King "The day is saved! The sun is bright! Weakness has triumphed over might! 27Z < Z < 28 Anansi King Patricia King Arabella Anansi King Arabella King Bob Anansi King King Soliday King Servants Anansi Servants Anansi What do you mean, weakness? Getting this feather t00k me all I've got! T know, dear boy, I know. And to prove I’m as good a my word, allow me to offer in marriage my daughter Patricia But I'm married already, Daddy. Very well, then: my daughter Arabella I'm not your daughter, I’m your aunt. Couldn’t we just start the banquet while you all sort yourselves out? He starts to eat. My daughter Lucretia. Where is she? Mancrow ate her last week. My daughter Anastasia. I’m not your daughter Anastasia, I’m your son Bob. Look, I’m quite happy with just the huge banquet, really ... But what, pray, is this? Enter Soliday with a feather. Anansi scuttles off with the food. And just who do you think you are? Tam the man that killed Mancrow. I’ve heard that one before. Look me in the eye. /Soliday does] Oh. Then who is ... and indeed where is ...? Sco Imposter! After him! The Servants chase around the stage and come at last t0 @ locked door. They bang on the door. Knock, knock, Who’s there? Never mind who we are, we're looking for Anansi. But how do I know who you are?Servants Anansi Servants Anansi Servants Anansi Servants Anansi Servants King Anansi Ask us knock, knock, Knock, knock. Who's there? I thought you wanted to know who YOU were. NO! We want to know who YOU are! Knock, knock. Who's there? (That’s better.) Come in and find out! They do, but ... He’s gone!!! [Handing rewards 0 Soliday] This is for hope: without it, we quail This is for wits: without them, we fail This is for fear: your fear makes you strong This is for anger at everything wrong This is your name, simple and true And no one can pass on your secret but you. [Sneaking onto the stage] Off they go to the wedding bed ‘Me? I'll stay just me ... and fed Live on the outside, grab what I can Be myself - quick spider man. Tam the man that killed Mancrow ... Z < Z < 29ANANSI 30 On Boarp THE HOLD Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman Girl Woman ON DECK Sailor Why does Anansi keep looking for trouble? Because if you have wits like Anansi you have to use them, Like a knife, you have to keep them sharp. And like a knife, you can use them rightly or wrongly: to cut bread with, to live, to kill, or to harm yourself. One little knife against all these men: that’s all you’ve got. Keep it hidden! Mother? One more question, and that’s all. What do they do with the people they don’t throw away? Do you want to know the truth? Yes. They sell, they Suy, they buy and they sell. I knew it. Then why did you ask? Because I want to know what's to happen to me. You ses Mother, they won’t throw me away. Go to sleep. aoee Pe cecccccvccvccecccccvesoscserte” Smell ... the salt of the sea crashing the bow. The clean fresh : m wind singing in the ropes, The putrid stench oozing up f° moaning grates, The Boy sits crying in a corner. What's all this? You're a lad, a big ’un an’ all. You don’t oF —_eee Boy Sailor Boy Sailor Boy Sailor Boy Sailor Boy Suilor Boy Sailor Boy Sailor Boy Sailor Boy Sailor I don’t feel big. You're big enough to birch, which is what Captain will do if he finds you here like this. You don’t let your side down. But I'm not on anybody’s side. Nobody’s on mine. Not now, maybe, but one day you'll be Management, and that’s the right side to be on, I reckon. Better’n mine, at any rate. MayT. Now there’s no time for knot-tying, if that’s what you're after. B May I ask you something? What can I tell you that you don’t know already from your fancy books? @ That’s not the same and you know it. Books don’t listen, fathers don’t listen. All I get is told things. ANANSI So what is it? I'll be flogged if I dawdle here all day. What colour is God? [Laughs] Blow me! If that doesn’t take it for a question to end them all! What do you mean, lad? Well if He’s a man like they say, only a man that’s always good and never dies, then what colour is He? All I know is what they told me as a lad, and that’s that we're all of us made in His image. So that man they threw in the sea today ... Is that what you were crying about? Listen!’That means that man looks just as much like God as you or I. No, no. You're out of your depth there, boy. Slaves are different .,. more like beasts, or so they reckon. 31aR Boy It isn’t true! I saw a girl today, down ... down there ,.. Sailor Your trouble is too much imagination. You think too much and some thoughts is plain dangerous. Boy But she wasn’t a beast! She was just like me! Sailor T've no time for this. A man is a man and a beast is a beast, The good book says that men were given to rule over beasts as they see fit, and neither you nor J are free to question that. Now let me be. Beasts or no, I’m just doing my job, and if throwing away spoiled cargo is part of it, then who am I to argue? If you want to know more, young sir, ask yourself whose fiddle your father dances to and why he jigs at all. Aye, there’s a God to be reckoned with! Pe werccceccevcccvecccccecco es ece sree ceseoeeseecens THE CABIN 2 Boy [Reading] Today they threw a man away. The sea was grey, s so was his face. But the sea looked angry and he looked like z he was asleep. Captain I warned you, boy ... | He takes the diary and hits the boy. Boy But those are my thoughts ... Captain I leave you to work on the ledgers and you betray me. Boy Let me have it back, Father. Please. Captain You'll take this book and you'll throw it overboard. Then I might consider forgiveness for that and your other acts of dalliance. Boy But I haven’t done anything! Captain Precisely. You've been idling and chattering with the ratings Every man has a place on this ship and you'll learn yours if! have to break your back. Boy I didn’t ask to come. 32 echThe Captain strikes him again. Captain From now on you speak only when spoken to. Here. Say goodbye to your precious book. You will be on deck in five minutes. He storms out of the cabin. Boy Dear Diary. I’m throwing you away, And though you are not finished, I'll keep your story in my head. weve Cece cece ccceccecccecceseeeeseerseeess THE HOLD Cough, cough, cough. Hear the barking of an old Woman who still has a story to tell. Girl Mother? ~ Woman Child? Girl Mother, are you sick? Zz Zz Woman Don’t fear for me. I don’t, so no more should you. = Girl They’re coming again. The big man and ... the boy. Don’t let them see you're sick. The Sailor and the Boy come by. The older man inspects the Girl’s teeth and eyes, then turns to the Woman. Can you see the flash in the Girl’s eyes as she tries to turn around? She looks right at the Boy. He sees what we imagine. As the Sailor starts to untie the Woman, the Boy crumples in distracting agony. Boy Sailor! Sailor! I’m sick! I need the ship’s doctor! Help me! Sailor [Grabs him roughly and hauls him (0 the ladder] Nowt but trouble, you are, and that’s a fact, Girl ‘They've gone, Mother, [Pause] ‘The boy ~ he has a kind of sickness. Woman Maybe so, maybe so, Girl What did we do that they hate us so? 33— Woman Nothing. They treat each other no better. When they see up they see the thing they fear the most. Girl What do they see? Woman Riddle me this, riddle me that Girl What is your riddle? Woman So light you can barely see it. So beautiful no human being can hope to make one. Strong enough to hunt with, pure enough to see through, always being made again Girl Anansi’s web! % Woman Good. You're growing. This is the little answer to my riddle, = Girl And the big answer? Woman The big answer is the soul. = Girl Are we going to die? = Woman I've told you once before, girl; you're going to live. < Girl But I want you with me! You’re my mother now! Woman Tl be with you. Girl How? Woman Listen to my story. 34eT Tue Forest or § ORTES Perc ecceccee 1 DOWN BY THE POOL Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Enter Ratbat, cool as ice, singing snatches of ice-cool songs. ‘She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini That she wore for the first time today.” “The heat is high, the heat is hot A sweltering summer’s what we've got’ “But I don’t need no fancy hat ’Cos I’m real cool and my name’s Ratbat.’ a Zz But what is that awesome roaring in the distance? 4 Here’s Tiger and Anansi coming along To interrupt my summer song 3B But I’m going to hide behind this tree Zz So they can’t mess with me. 2 ‘It’s too darn hot It’s too darn hot...” “We're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave ‘The temperature’s rising, it isn’t surprising ...” What isn’t surprising, Anansi? Why, it isn’t surprising that you look so terribly hot, Tiger. Stylish, magnificent, Wise Beyond Belief, but so, so, hot. But I can take you to a cool, cool pool, so cool you could lie there all day under the shade of the green, green ferns, while everyone else just sits and sweats and smells. However, if. you don’t know how to swim, you'll just have to stew in your fine fur coat, How dare you! Of course I can swim, All tigers are best at sport. Show me this pool and 'll show you a dolphin with fur and claws. 35B Zz < Z < 36 Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger 7 Come this way .., left a bit ... right a bit ... up this litde bank ... ta-dah! Stand back while I dive magnificently in. Wait! Surely you can’t go swimming in your good fur coat? Why ever not? Oh, dear. I thought you knew. Iv shrink and you'll have to be ever so careful bending over for the rest of your life Oh, why do things have to get so complicated around you, Anansi? Here. Help me with my coat. Anansi unzips Tiger’s stylish coat. There now. Once you've taken all your fat off you'll be ready for the longest, coolest swim any tiger has ever had. TAKE MY FAT OFF!?! Well, everybody knows how delicious, how scrummy and how lipsmacking tiger fat is. So? And if there are any three-toed fat-eating bloogers in the pool, you'll be a very thin tiger indeed for the rest of your life. Hold on a minute. I don’t usually do this, And turn your back, Anansi. How I do it remains a secret, no matter what. Imagine ... awful slurping sounds and a splash as Tiger dives in. Anansi scoops up the fat and cooks it! Salt and pepper, herbs and spice Tiger fat is nice, nice, nice. Fry it, boil it, stew it quick | Eat the lot and don’t be sick! Mmmmm .y., just as galumptuous as I knew it would be [From the pool] ANANSI! Are you watching my fat and 608" as closely as you can?rr Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Oh, yes! Don’t you worry! Couldn’t get closer if I tried Ratbat creeps out from behind the tree. Here’s my chance to make a kill I smell grub, and I'll eat my fill When Anansi’s around you never know Just which way the meal will go. Yo there, Anansi! What’s cooking? What? Oh ... nothing, Ratbat. Anyway, what are you doing up and awake? Ratbats only come out at night. Not this ratbat. You see, what I crave, Anansi, is cool, and it’s too hot to sleep today. I thought I’d just stroll on down to Song City where things are cool even in the noonday heat. F I’m talking serious partytime. By the way, who’s that in the . water? ® Oh, nobody special. By the way, Ratbat, being so cool I zB expect you've got your entry all prepared for the Song s Contest. < Natch, man. Um... which particular contest, out of interest? Oh, just the Best Song about Tiger Fat Contest. It’s kind of ... you know ... exclusive, so I'd understand if no one had bothered to tell you anything about it. Of course I know all about it! I’m a brilliant singer, me! What, you mean Parrot and Centipede and the twenty-three gerbils were just kidding when they called you a glorified rat with wings? I beg your pardon? I'll have you know, Anansi, that if rad didn’t sing they'd all have bashed their heads in long ago. And how d’you reckon that, then? Because they bounce their songs off trees in the dark, that’s how. Oh, I TPhav'll explain why Parrot, Centipede and the } 37& ANANSI 38 Ratbat Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Tiger Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat Anansi Ratbat twenty-three gerbils said that bouncing ratbat songs off treeg was about the best thing you could do with them, then, EH!?! ANANSI! Do I hear someone else yelling in the region of my fat? Don’t worry, Tiger, it’s just an echo. An echo of what? An echo of what? See what I mean? OK, then. Who IS that in the water? Who IS that in the water? An echo. Oh, stop confusing me, Ratbat. I’ve only got five minutes to find somebody cool as an icecube in a polar bear’s pyjamas, otherwise my entry for the Best Song about Tiger Fat Contest will be a complete waste. I can’t sing a note. Cool as an icecube in a polar bear’s pyjamas? Why; that could almost be me you’re talking about. Let's hear the song and I'll enter it for you! But I thought you had a song already. Oh, I can always bounce it off a shrub or two later tonight. OK then. Here itis. Yesterday this time me am yum Tiger fat Yesterday this time me am yum Tiger fat Yesterday this time me am yum Tiger fat Yesterday this time me am yum Tiger fat Wow! Brilliant! Ican sing that no problem! Well you'd better be quick, Those twenty-three gerbils 408 hang around, and Song City’s a good way off. e & I'll fly, It’s the thing I do nearly as well as singing.