ABSTRACT
GOREE ISLAND. It is at night. Enter the audience in the dark. While the audience is taking their seats, we hear people bidding each other farewell and goodbye. There is the sound of the engine of a boat running. Then a hooter to signal to passengers that the boat is about to leave. After the first hooter, the noise grows. We hear the last hooter. Then enter Nomsa, a young woman running desperately for the boat which has just pulled off. We hear the sound effects of the boat leaving. The young woman is desperately looking at the boat moving. Then there is a song “The last boat from Gorée” from a soundtrack. Frustrated, to the background of music she goes through a dance sequence depicting the search for help. Enter Oba, an old woman out of the baobab tree. She stops next to the baobab tree and looks intensely to the heavens. She sings: “Let the drums echo on.” Nomsa becomes aware of the old woman. She continues briefly with the dance to express her surprise and anxiety. We see her struggling to approach the old woman. Just when she is about to utter a word, the old woman responds in French.
