First Rehearsal

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First Rehearsal

We had our first rehearsal a couple of weeks ago. It was a bit bumpy at times, but successful nonetheless.

First, we read through the script together so everyone was aware of the changes. The first version of Son of the Wind was written in October 2008 and it has evolved and changed over time, not the essence or story line, but the details, which I know will ultimately make it better.

My greatest resource is the cast, especially the older men who served in Angola and the women who explain traditional customs to me. Joao, is also fantastic! He is an old hunter and constantly scolding the young men when they hold their bows upside-down or carry the arrows in the wrong hand.

When these moments happen, it is amusing but also very sad. Because I know I am witnessing a culture in the process of dissolving. There is no way to stop that process because the young will always be the young and they will run after every circus. The !Xun and Khwe live just 13kilometers from the city how can they not be effected by the modern world? And indeed, they have also benefited form it -to a point.

But the culture and the stories can at least be remembered and held on to in other ways. That is one of the reasons the project on whole is important to the community. Sharing our stories is one way preserving them.

In the Second Act the character of Jackal speaks to Dala: If a thing is never written down then one day there will be no one left who remember. Then it will be as if it never happened.