Words On The Wind (1980)
A play for young people involving incidental music, electronic sounds, laser sets and the inventiveness of the performers.
(Six adults and nine child actors play 10 youngsters,
11 adults and the islanders of Tamak.)
Adapted from Fatlips, the author's book for young people.
 
SYNOPSIS
A play about energy defeating lethargy, enacting a story within a story within a story employing street games, strange and ethereal moments, a storm at sea, ghostly voices, simple story-telling (against a background of action), flying, quick-change sets, construction on stage, a birth, masks, electronic sounds and original music.
An old man is part of a shipload of people going to a new land. He was born with magical powers to fly, foretell the future, and hear voices on the wind. One voice he falls in love with fades after many years. He has spent his life looking for it. He's found it again and is on his way to meet her. In the process of telling his story to a family on the boat he tells the story of the woman he fell in love with.
 
EXCERPT
"That taught me. Not everyone can take help, you see. You need grace. Accepting help is a grace. So I had to learn how to use my magic in a way that no one knew, in a way that didn't confuse them or put them under obligation. Dangerous thing, magic. Gave me many a sleepless night, I can tell you. And then I began to get lonely. Surely, I thought, there must be others like me in this world? I can't be the only one who's blessed with this power. What's so special about me? You should have seen the stupid things I did with it - picked piles of sweets off apple trees then couldn't eat them. And when I tried to give them away they accused me of stealing. Yes! Sounds easy, magic, but it isn't, believe me. Lonely. So I began to look.

Now, how does one magic person look for another person of magic?"
 
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