Prologue: The Tuning
Keep trying.
PROLOGUE: THE TUNING
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The CHORUS is huddled around a small radio. They are tuning it, trying to reach a radio station. For a long few beats, they are met with only static.
CHORUS A: Keep trying.
[...]
CHORUS B holds the radio up high in the air. Nothing. Just static.
[...]
Suddenly, the radio tunes in to a song. The CHORUS freeze, listening. It is haunting.
CHORUS C: (whispering) Nobody move.
The CHORUS is a tableau of frozen statues. A long pause. Then, they take a deep breath and begin to speak as one.
CHORUS: Now, the story can begin. / Hear this: you proud, you wounded, you short of breath, you blinded by tears, you with a foot upon your back. / We do not wish to tell the story of an African tragedy* / Nor a tale of suffering / of sealed fate / of pain that ceases to ache. / yes, there are dark clouds to move through / there is wind and rain ahead / but do not look away, for – see, there / in the distance / a stitching together / a mending of things torn / and hope, uncoiling and blooming as aloes do. / Let the memories come now / Let them come flooding back
The lights fade to black. The music continues softly into the next scene.
![]()
The CHORUS is huddled around a small radio. They are tuning it, trying to reach a radio station. For a long few beats, they are met with only static.
CHORUS A: Keep trying.
[...]
CHORUS B holds the radio up high in the air. Nothing. Just static.
[...]
Suddenly, the radio tunes in to a song. The CHORUS freeze, listening. It is haunting.
CHORUS C: (whispering) Nobody move.
The CHORUS is a tableau of frozen statues. A long pause. Then, they take a deep breath and begin to speak as one.
CHORUS: Now, the story can begin. / Hear this: you proud, you wounded, you short of breath, you blinded by tears, you with a foot upon your back. / We do not wish to tell the story of an African tragedy* / Nor a tale of suffering / of sealed fate / of pain that ceases to ache. / yes, there are dark clouds to move through / there is wind and rain ahead / but do not look away, for – see, there / in the distance / a stitching together / a mending of things torn / and hope, uncoiling and blooming as aloes do. / Let the memories come now / Let them come flooding back
The lights fade to black. The music continues softly into the next scene.
