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Noises Off Article

Echoes through time

Published on
2nd April 2021

Gather round the fire with Esti Bragado – it's time for a story

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Before reading this, I invite you to do the following:

1. Play this video in the background

2. Make sure you are reading this in the dark. 

3. Get cosy.

Now we can start. 

In a Cave, a Voice is an audio play written by Rebekah King about the beginning of storytelling, when people lived in caves and told stories around the fire. It feels primitive, and in a way folkloric, for how beautifully offers a look into prehistoric times. It contains a stunning sound landscape (music and singing), all done by the magnificent Lily Blundell —incredible job Lily—, which the audience listens to while watching a drawing of a cave in their screens. And in that cave…there is a voice.

This was one of the most exciting things they did: telling stories around the fire. Can you imagine? Sitting in a circle with your family and listening to their dramatized and exaggerated stories while the shadows moved behind you? 

In this case the story comes to us through the voice of a girl, thanks to whom we get an idea of how they lived, what they talked about, what they believed in and what they feared. 

It happens that they had many things in common with us. They loved, they looked after each other, and yet their lifestyle was so different. It seems that they spent more time telling stories and having conversations than we do. I wonder when we lost that, do you? 

The voice starts talking to some characters from another world. They never answer, but the voice goes on. She asks them about their habits and traditions, also tells them why she is alone. They keep her company in silence, until another presence comes along. As if she had been preparing for it, she accepts her fate and leaves...once and for all.

-

@noffmag / [javascript protected email address]

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