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Theatre Arts For Secondary Schools

favourite food. The fox said, “Untie me from this tree so I can then tie you
up. Then you can eat the meat, and I won’t have a stomach ache”. The

hyena agreed to the plan. He untied the fox, and the fox tied the hyena to the
tree.

When the people returned to where they had tied the fox to the tree, they
found the hyena tied to the tree instead. They were surprised, and said,
“Hyena, where is the fox?’’

The hyena said, “I untied her. Now she is gone. The fox said that she
was not hungry. I’ll eat the meat you brought for her”
Angrily, the people threw the hyena into the fire. The greedy and foolish hyena

died in the fire.
Questions:
1 What lessons have you learnt from the story?

2 Have you ever tricked someone or has someone ever tricked you? Explain
how it was.
3 Create a performance using the story of the Hyena and the fox, rehearse
it with your friends, then perform it.

Remember: For safety purposes, do not use real fire during the performance,
do not dig a real hole to throw your friend in it, use soft materials in the place of
ropes and firewood.

Exercise 2.2

Your classmate has just re-told you the story that his grandmother told him last
night. It was a short fictional story that featured the fox and the hyena as characters
and aimed at teaching morals.

(a) In which category of African stories does the story belong? Give reasons of
your categorisation.

(b) Apart from teaching morals, what other characteristics do such types of
stories have?

Characteristics of African storytelling
As a form of African theatre, storytelling has various characteristics. These characteristics
make African storytelling unique when compared to other forms of African theatre.

38 Student’s Book Form One

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