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!