Letsatsi: a timeless tragedy

Letsatsi!
a timeless tragedy

A young man of colour goes through the motions of daily life, toiling under the Sun, while still hoping that more people would realize that there was more to life than toiling. His lamentations are joined by voices of his subconscious.
Part 1: Love Life
Act 1
Scene 1
A mother and her son stand staring at one another in a kitchen.
Adam:             (Agitatedly) Mom, you really don't understand me or what I do at all. So please, just be quiet.
Mom:               (meekly) This is what I get for suffering all these years for you. You treat me like rubbish. You don't talk to me nice. You're always pretending to know me and you're Rude.
Adam:             (Calmingly) You refuse to listen, and yet you demand to be heard.
Mom:               (Irritably) You see! There you go, pretending to know me. You don't know me! You don't even see what I have done for you. You're ungrateful.
Adam:             (Calm) I see everything that you've done for me; I see everything that you do for me. You go above and beyond the call of duty. Stop. Do things for you now. Like, get yourself out of debt.
Mom:               (Angrily) I did it for you!
Adam:             (visibly fighting hard to remain calm) No, you did it because you had me.
Mom:               Same thing.
Adam:             No. It's not. You see -
Mom:               I don't want to hear it.
Adam:             You see. You really don't understand me at all. Worse still, is that you don't even try.

Black out.

Muffled voices begin a low chant, their voices increasing with the tempo. A mystical figure enters the scene amid the chanting bearing a candle in a bowl.  A light falls down on him. His hands are pressed together in front of him, his head is bowed. The chanting voices stop.

Narrator:          Once, there was a boy who only ever wanted to make art. First he started making art with words. Then as he grew, he made art with bodies, and then with bodies and words. All throughout, however, he was missing one thing: his mother. Mom was always a strong, independent person. And best of all, she was a mother (Drumming begins).

The narrator deliberately walks off stage. Lights come back on. Mom stands up.

Mom:               I was never the best at saving money. Life always seemed to happen. First, he came. He had beautiful words. It was a long time ago, I don't like to talk about it.


Drumming stops.

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