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TRANSCRIPT
Zeraffa Giraffa
Visual Story
A visual resource for children and adults with
Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory Processing Disorder and associated condi-tions.
This resource is intended to help prepare any visitors for a new experi-ence and to help them to become familiar with the show, surroundings
and situation.
The show
The show lasts for 1 hour with no interval.
There are three performers who play different characters in the show. Zeraffa Giraffa is a puppet and sometimes a small toy Giraffe.
The performers also act as narrators and they talk directly to the audience when they are ex-plaining the story.
The show has live music played on instruments including guitar, violin and accordion and songs.
Synopsis
Across the plains of Africa where grass grows tall and acacias taste sweet.
A young giraffe is sent as a gift from the Pasha of Egypt to the King of France, but Paris is very far away…
With a boy called Atir to help Zeraffa find her way, the pair sail up the Nile past pyramids, sphinxes and temples and out across the stormy sea to a country where everything is differ-ent. No one has seen an animal like Zeraffa before. Can Zeraffa and Atir find a way to make this new place home?
Zeraffa Giraffa is an emotionally engaging tale that explores what it is like to be different. Based on the book by award-winning children’s author Dianne Hofmeyr, Zeraffa Giraffa is in-spired by the astonishing true tale of a real giraffe. This brand new adaptation is told using beautiful hand-made puppets and an original musical score that will bring you along Zeraffa’s epic journey across land and sea.
Characters
There are lots of characters in this story which are portrayed in different ways. Here are some of the main characters you will meet.
Atir is the boy who takes Zeraffa on the
journey to France.
The Pasha is the King who wants to send a Gi-raffe to the King of France
Zeraffa the Giraffe puppet The Sphynx is projected on to a screen
The Priest pops his face through the church
door. Sara is a lady that Atir meets in France
There are lots of other characters in the show who we meet briefly including sailors, and people passing by .
Ms Stravaganza is a humanette puppet. The head and
hands are the performers and the body is a puppet. The King of France Charles X is a
painting and his Granddaughter Louise.
The Camel The Giraffe Family of toy Giraffes
In this section special alerts are written in blue ink.
Play notes
When you enter the auditorium the stage is empty and dark apart from some pieces of set. You can hear the sound of crickets chirping.
Before the show starts there are some animal sounds and an an-nouncement to remind people to turn off their phones.
The lights go down. The puppeteers enter the stage from the back.
We meet a family of Giraffes who live in Ethiopia. The baby Giraffe gets lost from the rest of her family.
She is scared and calls out for her mother and father.
There are some loud bangs as the performers stamp their feet on the wooden boxes. Some hunters are coming.
The baby Giraffe screams for her mother and father as the hunters tie her up .
One of the hunters whips the rope, which makes a loud noise. The baby Giraffe cries loudly.
The baby giraffe is tied to the back
of a camel, who feels sorry for the
giraffe.
There is a gentle song about the
camel as they travel to the town.
As they reach the town the song
becomes louder and faster and you
can hear the hustle and bustle of
the city. The giraffe is scared of all
the noise and shouts ‘No!’
There is a drum roll and bash
of the tambourine as the Pasha
(king) enters.
The Hunters sell the baby Gi-
raffe to the Pasha.
The Pasha decides that he
wants to give the Giraffe to the
King of France as a gift and
calls Atir to be the person who
will be responsible for trans-
porting the Giraffe to Paris.
As the Pasha leaves there is a
drum roll.
When it’s time to get on the
boat to travel along the Nile
Zeraffa is very nervous. Atir
guides her on and they set sail.
The Sailors sing a song as they
set sail. One of the sailors
shouts ‘land ahoy’ as the Pyra-
mids of Giza come into view.
There is a loud bubbling noise
and the screen at the back of
the stage lights up. The Sphinx
of Giza appears on the screen.
The Sphinx is made with cut out
pictures of facial features on a
shadow screen. It’s face changes
and it sometimes looks a bit angry
or strange.
When the Sphinx isn’t talking flash-
ing lights appear on the screen.
The Sphinx does not want to let the
Giraffe continue on the journey, but
when Atir shares some wise words
that solve a riddle for the Sphinx
they are allowed to continue.
A sailor shouts out the name of the
city as they approach the town of
Alexandria.
As they unload the ship they bang
drums and sing. The final note of
the song is loud and long!
Atir meets the Port Manager who
doesn’t want to help them to con-
tinue their journey. Luckily the Pa-
sha sends a message to command
that they are given whatever they
need to continue their journey.
They set out to sea to make the
journey to France.
The sailors and other animals on
the ship all fall in love with
Zeraffa.
Sailing on the sea is a very differ-
ent experience from the Nile es-
pecially during stormy times.
There is a storm where the boat,
sailors and Zeraffa are blown
around. There are sounds of
thunder and a storm and lights
flashing to represent lightning.
As the storm settles one of the
sailors shouts ‘land ahoy!’
They land in France in the city of Mar-
seilles at night. It is dark apart from a
torch light representing a lighthouse.
An accordion player plays French mu-
sic and the narrator has to shout
‘Marseille’ loudly to announce where
they are.
Atir is worried as he cannot speak
French. When they first arrive they
meet lots of people rushing by who
he cannot understand.
Finally they meet Sara who is also
from Egypt and speaks Arabic. They
find out that she is also far away from
home, without some of her family.
She offers them somewhere to stay
and helps them continue their jour-
ney.
The next morning they meet Ms Extrava-
ganza, who tries to help them come up
with a plan of how to travel the 550 miles
across France to get to Paris.
In the end they decide that the best way is
to walk!
They set off in a procession, led by Zeraffa
and Atir with cows for milk and horses and
carts to carry what they need.
The procession travels across
France and we see some of the
sights that they see hidden in
boxes.
Each night they have to find some-
where to sleep. They stop at a
church. The priest pops his head out
of the door and welcomes them in.
But sometimes they can’t find any-
where to stay.
As they knock on the doors of other
boxes they are slammed shut.
Atir and Zeraffa settle down
under the stars.
It is dark except for the
moon.
Atir is woken by the growling
noise of wolves.
In the darkness torch lights
flash behind a screen to rep-
resent the glowing eyes of
the wolves.
Atir frightens them away by
lighting a torch and jumping
on Zeraffa’s back.
They finally reach Paris and
are welcomed with a song!
Everyone in Paris is very ex-
cited to see the Giraffe and
they wear clothes covered in
Giraffe print, tall hats and
long eyelashes to celebrate.
They also show off a new Gi-
raffe inspired dance craze!
Zeraffa and Atir finally reach
the palace and meet the King
of France. The Giraffe is a
surprise for his Granddaughter
Princess Louise.
The King orders that a Rotun-
da is built to house Zeraffa so
that all of the people of Paris
can visit and enjoy her.
Princess Louise and Atir become
friends and she loves Zeraffa.
The King announces that he is
sending Atir back to Egypt, but
Atir does not want to leave
Zeraffa as they have become in-
separable.
Princess Louise tells her Grandfa-
ther that if Atir leaves then
Zeraffa will be sad and the people
will become angry to see a sad
Giraffe.
The King is worried beacuse the people
of France love Zeraffa so much a sad Gi-
raffe might cause a revolution so he
agrees to let Atir stay with Zeraffa.
The lights go dark with a backdrop of stars.
Atir, Zeraffa and Louise are happy to be together in the Rotunda,. They feel like a family.
The lights go out on the stage.
The performers come back on stage to take a bow.
The audience will clap.
You can clap to show them that you enjoyed the show if you want to.
The End!