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She knew the basics about the five Paragons of Marvelling—Papa and the griots had helped her with those—but she was still learning about all the different kinds of marvels.

“My mother was such a griot in our family,” Due says.

Perhaps that magical yet iffy omniscience — Sassy calls herself a griot, or traditional keeper of stories — would have felt less jarring in a more abstract production.

“Consider me your time-traveling griot,” she tells the audience with wry buoyanc‌y, evoking the West African tradition of storytellers who propagated endangered legacies.

Simon sees himself as a griot, “a keeper of stories through music,” and many of his tales offer “a positive message, the positive response to the struggle,” he said.