Page 6 - ScaredRabbits

Preface

It is thanks to Margrit Streit of the ARCHE child care in Zurich that this work came about. The
ARCHE (ark) is a social institution in Zurich which runs a second hand store, creates working
places for people in rehabilitation and also cares for emigrant children, giving them a Swiss
‘godfather’ or ‘godmother’ to build a bridge for them to Swiss culture, helping them in the
housework for school and being support and partner in exchanges.

In the course of February 2008 we spoke about whether one or two theatre afternoons
could be arranged for the children, and so the work started rolling. In addition to this, I
always had wished to set the Jataka Tales of Noor Inayat Khan into a theatre setting,
following the ancient tradition of storytellers who for so many years ‘passed on life’ in the
times where there was no radio, TV or other devices.

It was of invaluable help to me that for these last five years, I had busied myself in musical
projects with my dearest friend Hidayat InayatͲKhan, younger brother of the Jataka Tales
author, all his symphonic compositions should become available in the music shops in
printed form, this is the aim.

It was obvious and evident that I would try to create something myself, and so I took up the
work, easy flow from the hand into the music writing program of my computer, and also the
working out of the theatre plot was just one fine flow. We selected from five stories the one
presented here.

This book is a documentation about the work. I would deeply enjoy if this work was a first
step into an ongoing flow of cooperation with various groups, institutions or working circles,
who care for a living culture of the old traditions. Therefore the little sign ‘work in progress’
– the paper presented here is incomplete, partly not sufficiently flexible to meet the needs
of various groups.

So it is more than all a report about these two theatre afternoons of April 2008, which ended
with a little performance, and secondly you will find some information about the
background of the story, the composition and the literature which had flown into the work.

With deep gratitude for your welcoming reception, much pleasure reading and listening! All
imperfections in contents, Performance and music are mine!

Zurich, beginnings of May 2008 Puran Füchslin

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