In the first light snow
the bay disappears.
Ocean roars in my ear.
From the Deacon's Bench:
Ochosi - the Story of the Tracker
Adapted from Ochosi: Ifa and the Story of the Tracker
Characters:
Sam, a man in his 60s
Edwin, a man in his 30s
Trevor, a man in his 20s
Sarah, the narrator, late teens
Sally, married to Edwin, 30s
Young man, plays Ochosi, a tracker, late teens
Small girl, plays the parrot Odidê, any age
Young man, plays Ochosi's uncle, late teens
Various teenagers, setting up a stage, moving props, etc.
(Some of the teenagers could play villagers)
Various church members, real or imagined
Setting: A church fellowship hall. A church supper in North Carolina
Time: February in the present, around 6:00 p.m. on a Sunday night
[At rise, SALLY roams around the hall, pantomiming overseeing the makings of the church supper. Spotlight on SAM and TREVOR sitting together on a bench. EDWIN joins them.]
SAM: Hey, brother, how you doing this fine evening?
EDWIN: Oh, can't complain, brother, can't complain. [Sighs.] Well, here we are. Another church supper.
SAM: That sounds like complaining to me..
EDWIN: Naw, not really. [Pause] I just wanted to watch the rest of the game.
SAM: Well, sure, but we celebrating community here tonight. Community's important.
TREVOR: You always so hale and hearty. Let him complain.
EDWIN [overlap the next three lines]: It's all right. I mean, after Sally cooked the whole day I couldn't very well . . .
TREVOR: . . . Can't a man get a little loose once in a while?
SAM: . . . You didn't want to let her down. That's right. They're saying now that it's our connections with people that keep us human.
TREVOR: Who's saying?
SAM: Well . . . scientists. That's who.
TREVOR: Finally, you and I agree on something. The whole human race has been one big happy family busy making connections with each other, and . . ..
SAM: And you always so bitter. I'd rather be "hale and hearty" any day. Glad I was born that way.
Trevor, a man in his 20s
Sarah, the narrator, late teens
Sally, married to Edwin, 30s
Young man, plays Ochosi, a tracker, late teens
Small girl, plays the parrot Odidê, any age
Young man, plays Ochosi's uncle, late teens
Various teenagers, setting up a stage, moving props, etc.
(Some of the teenagers could play villagers)
Various church members, real or imagined
Setting: A church fellowship hall. A church supper in North Carolina
Time: February in the present, around 6:00 p.m. on a Sunday night
[At rise, SALLY roams around the hall, pantomiming overseeing the makings of the church supper. Spotlight on SAM and TREVOR sitting together on a bench. EDWIN joins them.]
SAM: Hey, brother, how you doing this fine evening?
EDWIN: Oh, can't complain, brother, can't complain. [Sighs.] Well, here we are. Another church supper.
SAM: That sounds like complaining to me..
EDWIN: Naw, not really. [Pause] I just wanted to watch the rest of the game.
SAM: Well, sure, but we celebrating community here tonight. Community's important.
TREVOR: You always so hale and hearty. Let him complain.
EDWIN [overlap the next three lines]: It's all right. I mean, after Sally cooked the whole day I couldn't very well . . .
TREVOR: . . . Can't a man get a little loose once in a while?
SAM: . . . You didn't want to let her down. That's right. They're saying now that it's our connections with people that keep us human.
TREVOR: Who's saying?
SAM: Well . . . scientists. That's who.
TREVOR: Finally, you and I agree on something. The whole human race has been one big happy family busy making connections with each other, and . . ..
SAM: And you always so bitter. I'd rather be "hale and hearty" any day. Glad I was born that way.
EDWIN [Clearly changing the subject] Hey, where are all our youth tonight?
TREVOR: Speak for yourself. I'm here. The rest of 'ems probably home watching the game!
SAM: [Sighs]. Well, there you have it. Community's important and we gotta get our young people to realize that. You know that your place in the community just might spell the difference between success and failure for you one fine day?
EDWIN: That's right. Why look how Jimmy's father got Cedric that job and Cedric ain't even been here two weeks from Haiti.
TREVOR: It helped him a lot that Cedric spoke English.
EDWIN [Notices that a group of teenagers finish hauling a large platform down at the end of the church hall. Others are hanging a sheet on a wire extended across the room. There is also a piece of board which will function as a perch for a bird and some parrot feathers near its base.]: Hey, look! There they are! Our young people's here. Looks like they're fixing to give us a play. Let's move up closer and see what they're up to.
[Spotlight on the improvised stage. The deacons mingle with other church members moving up to the front of the hall dragging folding chairs to sit near the stage. There are barely audible improvised murmurs of lines like "What a surprise", "I knew Willy was up to something all this week!", "They kept their play a secret from us all!", etc. A teenaged girl comes out onto the improvised platform at the end of the hall, dressed in a Yoruba traditional robe, but not a fancy one. She waits while the audience settles. Applause.]
TREVOR: Oh, of course. It's Black History Month. Another story from the slavery days . . .
SAM and EDWIN [overlap]: Keep your voice down! / Don't you go letting your cynicism get heard by those children! / That ain't a slavery costume she's wearing. / Just shows how much you know!
[SALLY, EDWIN's wife, joins them.]: Now, where did Sarah get that robe! Mind if I join you fellas?
SAM: Just sit here between me and Trevor before I punch him.
SALLY: What?! Oh, you two at it again. Sam, just don't pay him no nevermind.
EDWIN: Shh. It's showtime.
SARAH: We are going to present an Ashanti story for you tonight. It is not a happy story. I'm afraid Anansi the spider won't be making an appearance. [A few laughs from the audience.] So please silence all cell phones and we'll begin. [More applause from the audience.]
EDWIN: A spider? Ana...who?
TREVOR: Don't look at me; I don't know.
SAM: Shh!
[Ochosi moves stealthily onto the stage while SARAH introduces him.]
SARAH: Ochosi was a strong man, a warrior and hunter. He provided most of the food not just for his family but for the entire village.
[SARAH steps aside.]
OCHOSI [in an informative, natural voice]: A powerful medicine has made me a hunter. The medicine is kept by my parrot, Odidê. We are like one.
[Enter a small girl dressed like a parrot. The audience gasps because there is nothing cute about her costume.]: I am Odidê, which means "the parrot who collects medicine used for hunting." I am one with the forest. I know the forest, but I live with the village, with Ochosi.
OCHOSI: Before I go on a hunt, I speak to Odidê. I ask, "Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt." When I return from the hunt, Odidê is always the first to be fed, first before anyone else in the village. It is only right to thank Odidê for the use of her medicine.
[Sarah and Ochosi step to the side and pet and play with Odidê.]
[Ochosi's uncle enters, as a second narrator, sombre tone]: One day, one season, suddenly all of the animals in the forest disappeared. This happened once in a while during the course of things but that doesn't mean it didn't spell trouble. It was big trouble for the village because the animals supplied most of what the people ate. When it happened, the people wondered what to do? What are we going to do?
SARAH [If there are other characters, they pantomime what she says]: We look to Ochosi for help. Who else is as good a hunter as Ochosi? He knew what he had to do. First, he spoke to Odidê.
OCHOSI: Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt.
SARAH: He prepared to go and left Odidê in the care of his uncle.
OCHOSI: I will leave Odidê in your care, Uncle. There is no one in the world I love so much as you. Odidê will be safe with you.
[SARAH and OCHOSI's UNCLE carrying ODIDÊ and her perch exit the stage and go behind the curtain. OCHOSI with a bow and arrow stalks the stage as if looking for game.]
[From behind the curtain, SARAH]: On the first day he found nothing. On the second day, he found nothing. A week passed and he found nothing. A month passed. He lost track of time. He grew exhausted. But he could not return home empty handed. He knew that the people of the village would be getting desperate by now. He travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. All of his mind was focused on looking for signs of game.
Then, on the day that he sighted the bush pig, he placed Odidê's medicine on his arrow. When the medicine was in place, he invoked Odidê.
OCHOSI: Odidê, make my aim be true. Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt.
[OCHOSI's UNCLE steps back on stage while OCHOSI pantomimes what he says]: Ochosi shot his arrow and his aim was true. He caught the bush pig with that single shot. He took hold of the animal by the tail and dragged it out of the forest, trying to hurry home to feed those who had been waiting so long for his return.
[OCHOSI'S UNCLE lowers his head and freezes. SARAH steps back on stage.]: When Ochosi finally got back to the village, he went first to Odidê's perch, as he always did, to offer her some food, to offer profound thanks for her help. But Odidê was not on her perch. All that was left of Odidê were a few scattered feathers on the ground.
OCHOSI: I will have vengeance for this!! What's left of this medicine, may it stick to this arrow!
Strike the heart of the person who has eaten Odidê! Odidê, let my words reach you one last time! Guide me beyond fear! [OCHOSI pulled back on his bow and shot the arrow high into the sky. OCHOSI'S UNCLE falls dead. OCHOSI turns and falls over the body of his uncle in tears.
[beat]
After a minute, they stand up and walk front center stage. SARAH and ODIDE join them. They all hold hands and say in unison]:
[The audience half rises at these surprising words, then sink back into their seats except for TREVOR, who stands up. Slowly he starts to clap and slowly the congregation joins him.]
TREVOR: Speak for yourself. I'm here. The rest of 'ems probably home watching the game!
SAM: [Sighs]. Well, there you have it. Community's important and we gotta get our young people to realize that. You know that your place in the community just might spell the difference between success and failure for you one fine day?
EDWIN: That's right. Why look how Jimmy's father got Cedric that job and Cedric ain't even been here two weeks from Haiti.
TREVOR: It helped him a lot that Cedric spoke English.
EDWIN [Notices that a group of teenagers finish hauling a large platform down at the end of the church hall. Others are hanging a sheet on a wire extended across the room. There is also a piece of board which will function as a perch for a bird and some parrot feathers near its base.]: Hey, look! There they are! Our young people's here. Looks like they're fixing to give us a play. Let's move up closer and see what they're up to.
[Spotlight on the improvised stage. The deacons mingle with other church members moving up to the front of the hall dragging folding chairs to sit near the stage. There are barely audible improvised murmurs of lines like "What a surprise", "I knew Willy was up to something all this week!", "They kept their play a secret from us all!", etc. A teenaged girl comes out onto the improvised platform at the end of the hall, dressed in a Yoruba traditional robe, but not a fancy one. She waits while the audience settles. Applause.]
TREVOR: Oh, of course. It's Black History Month. Another story from the slavery days . . .
SAM and EDWIN [overlap]: Keep your voice down! / Don't you go letting your cynicism get heard by those children! / That ain't a slavery costume she's wearing. / Just shows how much you know!
[SALLY, EDWIN's wife, joins them.]: Now, where did Sarah get that robe! Mind if I join you fellas?
SAM: Just sit here between me and Trevor before I punch him.
SALLY: What?! Oh, you two at it again. Sam, just don't pay him no nevermind.
EDWIN: Shh. It's showtime.
SARAH: We are going to present an Ashanti story for you tonight. It is not a happy story. I'm afraid Anansi the spider won't be making an appearance. [A few laughs from the audience.] So please silence all cell phones and we'll begin. [More applause from the audience.]
EDWIN: A spider? Ana...who?
TREVOR: Don't look at me; I don't know.
SAM: Shh!
[Ochosi moves stealthily onto the stage while SARAH introduces him.]
SARAH: Ochosi was a strong man, a warrior and hunter. He provided most of the food not just for his family but for the entire village.
[SARAH steps aside.]
OCHOSI [in an informative, natural voice]: A powerful medicine has made me a hunter. The medicine is kept by my parrot, Odidê. We are like one.
[Enter a small girl dressed like a parrot. The audience gasps because there is nothing cute about her costume.]: I am Odidê, which means "the parrot who collects medicine used for hunting." I am one with the forest. I know the forest, but I live with the village, with Ochosi.
OCHOSI: Before I go on a hunt, I speak to Odidê. I ask, "Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt." When I return from the hunt, Odidê is always the first to be fed, first before anyone else in the village. It is only right to thank Odidê for the use of her medicine.
[Sarah and Ochosi step to the side and pet and play with Odidê.]
[Ochosi's uncle enters, as a second narrator, sombre tone]: One day, one season, suddenly all of the animals in the forest disappeared. This happened once in a while during the course of things but that doesn't mean it didn't spell trouble. It was big trouble for the village because the animals supplied most of what the people ate. When it happened, the people wondered what to do? What are we going to do?
SARAH [If there are other characters, they pantomime what she says]: We look to Ochosi for help. Who else is as good a hunter as Ochosi? He knew what he had to do. First, he spoke to Odidê.
OCHOSI: Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt.
SARAH: He prepared to go and left Odidê in the care of his uncle.
OCHOSI: I will leave Odidê in your care, Uncle. There is no one in the world I love so much as you. Odidê will be safe with you.
[SARAH and OCHOSI's UNCLE carrying ODIDÊ and her perch exit the stage and go behind the curtain. OCHOSI with a bow and arrow stalks the stage as if looking for game.]
[From behind the curtain, SARAH]: On the first day he found nothing. On the second day, he found nothing. A week passed and he found nothing. A month passed. He lost track of time. He grew exhausted. But he could not return home empty handed. He knew that the people of the village would be getting desperate by now. He travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. All of his mind was focused on looking for signs of game.
Then, on the day that he sighted the bush pig, he placed Odidê's medicine on his arrow. When the medicine was in place, he invoked Odidê.
OCHOSI: Odidê, make my aim be true. Odidê, my parrot, my pet, guide me beyond fear today on this hunt.
[OCHOSI's UNCLE steps back on stage while OCHOSI pantomimes what he says]: Ochosi shot his arrow and his aim was true. He caught the bush pig with that single shot. He took hold of the animal by the tail and dragged it out of the forest, trying to hurry home to feed those who had been waiting so long for his return.
[OCHOSI'S UNCLE lowers his head and freezes. SARAH steps back on stage.]: When Ochosi finally got back to the village, he went first to Odidê's perch, as he always did, to offer her some food, to offer profound thanks for her help. But Odidê was not on her perch. All that was left of Odidê were a few scattered feathers on the ground.
OCHOSI: I will have vengeance for this!! What's left of this medicine, may it stick to this arrow!
Strike the heart of the person who has eaten Odidê! Odidê, let my words reach you one last time! Guide me beyond fear! [OCHOSI pulled back on his bow and shot the arrow high into the sky. OCHOSI'S UNCLE falls dead. OCHOSI turns and falls over the body of his uncle in tears.
[beat]
After a minute, they stand up and walk front center stage. SARAH and ODIDE join them. They all hold hands and say in unison]:
I praise the hunter who never misses his mark.
[The audience half rises at these surprising words, then sink back into their seats except for TREVOR, who stands up. Slowly he starts to clap and slowly the congregation joins him.]
END OF PLAY
