Act 1, Scene 1

In Act I, Scene I, Isabel tells Thami that she is a "sober, sensible, English-speaking South African. I'm the third generation"(p.15) and tells him about her dad, mom, and sister who all work in the family pharmacy. She tells him that she's the rebel of the family. Saying that she'll answer any questions as long as she gets to ask some afterwards, she also reveals that she's eighteen years old, likes English and wants to be a writer, and likes to play hockey. Thami asks what she had for breakfast and she describes in vivid detail what her maid, Auntie, served her.

Isabel asks Thami to talk about himself and his family now. He tells her that Mbikwana is an old Bantu name and that his parents are "ordinary, hardworking, Bantu-speaking, black South African natives. I am the one-hundred-thousandth generation" (p.16). His mother is "a domestic" (p.16) and his father works for the railway, both in Cape Town, while he lives with his grandmother and sister in Camdeboo.