Tokoloshe
by Pieter Scholtz

Play script.

Tokoloshe Is a ubiquitous and mischievous river sprite who can become Invisible by swallowing a pebble.

He is central in most African folk-tales and legends, as he is In this one, a modern yet magical story revolving about a young girl named Thandi.

Space stage.

Costumes may range from uniform jumpsuits or dungarees, to imaginative and fanciful as desired.

3 women, 4 men + Narrator and two Stagehands who may be of either gender, or 10 in all.

The heroine is Thandi, a young girl who catches a strange and wonderful fish - no less than Tokoloshe himself, with the powers of shape-changing.

In return for his freedom the river sprite vows to serve Thandi.

He saves her from the clutches of a malevolent Go-Go (her grandmother) and an unwelcome suitor.

He also aids her search In the city for her long-lost father.

The play ends with a magical and unexpected climax - as delightful to Western audiences as it is to Zulu children.