Mandala Theatre Company – Creative Challenge 4 Be a Storyteller Led by Yasmin Sidhwa with Anusha Abbas We will take ideas from Marlon James novel – ‘Black Leopard, Red Wolf’ which draws on African history and mythology and create and tell the story of what happens when a ‘Tracker’ is hired to find a missing child. Using some ideas from the book – you can have a go at telling Tracker’s story.

Step 1: ‘Tracker has a magical sense of smell, not limited by distance or time, and a set of magical protections that make them immune to witchcraft, metal weapons, and poison. Leopard asks for Tracker’s help on a new mission: finding a child stolen from an elder’s house, monsters accompany the child they are looking for. Tracker winds through the wilderness, confronting monsters and magicians, as they search for the missing child’. Imagine you are Tracker – you can find anyone, anywhere. People come to you because you are the best at finding people. This is the story of the time you found the missing child. Write down or record the key moments in the story

  1. a) Decide 3 places Tracker goes to search for the child
  2. b) Come up with 3 characters Tracker meets with, fights with, or hides from on the way
  3. c) Decide where Tracker finds the child – who is with the child
  4. d) What does Tracker have to do to rescue the child – is there a battle? Does he poison  someone? Does he bribe them with money or gold?

Anusha will demonstrate doing this as if she is the character of the missing child

Step 2 – Become the storyteller

  1. a) You are Tracker telling the story – who are you telling it to? Eg. The Child’s family; In the town square; To Leopard;
  2. b) Make the story interesting and exciting eg. Use key storytelling phrases – ‘Many years ago, I went on my first finding mission…’; Describe the atmosphere; Build the tension by being quieter or loud in specific parts of the story; Have pauses or a shout or scream;
  3. c) What is the beginning, middle and end of your story? If you know this, you can tell the story from start to finish;
  4. d) Have a practice telling the story; There is no right or wrong – you just need to go from the beginning to the end;

Anusha will demonstrate telling the story as if she is the character of the missing child

  1. e) Record yourself on a phone telling the story and  ask a carer to send it to us

Have fun!

Submit your response

Ask an adult or carer to submit your response here. Pictures and videos must be of artwork and have no people in them.