We leave Dar Al Kalipha - with Tahir pronouncing Noah the happiest baby he's ever met, and drive through Casa to have lunch with Lahcen's parents. Now that he's back Lahcen has taken over the driving again - just as well as on the roads Casa there is a lot of aggression and horn-beeping. Lahcen says it's all acting 'They're all story-tellers. They all have a story in their herats, in their arse sometimes'. We have spoken before about all Moroccans being story-tellers, but this is definitely a phrase to keep for the show, I think.
A few hours later we arrive in Rabat - the capital - where Said Bey meets us for a cup of mint tea. He's finished the filming he was doing in Marrakech and is back in his home town of Rabat. By enormous coincidence our friend Alex is in Rabat, working on the Peter Brook production of 'The Magic Flute' touring Morocco. It plays the National Theatre in Rabat tonight and tomorrow and he offers us tickets for tomorrow. I'd love to go but I don't think Noah will sit through it - even if it is only 90 minutes! What he does sit through (mostly) this evening is a trilogy of short plays that we end up seeing at a smaller theatre next door. On the advice of a fellow actor friend of Lahcen's - all the Moroccan actors are based in Rabat it seems - there is a play about story-telling, or rather a piece of story-telling theatre. Essentially 3 monologues - each of which follows the story of a 'Keeper' of some sort (a school care-taker, a concierge and a parking attendant). It's in Darija but Lahcen translates and much of the physical comedy is universal. It's fascinating to see how older story-telling traditions are married with a very contemporary performance style; an electric guitarist providing live underscore and sound effects at the side of the stage. It's also interesting to see how the audience behaves - so unlike a polite little English audience - they wander in and out, some chat on their phones, all of which makes taking an 11 month old baby to the performance quite easy. After the show we head over to another building - the Villa Des Arts for a musica concert where we meet some more young Moroccan actors. Our timing is yet again been fortuitous as there is currently a Festival running throughout Rabat during the time we are there.