Director Simonson: from culture shock to understanding

During the past year, working in collaboration with Tug Yourgrauand Joseph Shabalala, Eric Simonson has shepherded the script of "TheSong of Jacob Zulu," transforming 30 pages of dialogue and masses oftranscript into a dramatic whole.

"I've done a lot of research into the history of South Africa,"said the intense, soft-spoken director. "But more important, I'vedone a lot of thinking about violence, and about the experiences ofthis particular boy, Jacob Zulu."

He also has soaked up the Zulu culture.

"There's always a calm that settles over our rehearsals wheneverwe do anything in Zulu," he said. "It's such a beautiful language,and Joseph is so …