Full Length 2-hour UN @ 75 Concert Show
P U R P O S E:
- To educate communities about the UN’s achievements of the last 75 years and to enhance our ability to rise to the challenges that await us in the next 75 years.
- To empower and inspire the young people on whom it will chiefly fall to deliver on those challenges, and to re-ignite their faith in the UN to support them;
F O R M A T: This format is designed to bring parents, grand-parents, community-leaders and the public together with young Secondary and Primary school students in a community celebration that explores and challenges the achievements of the United Nations over the last 75 years. It will also support young people to learn, and begin to figure out how they are going to address, the challenges of the next 75 years. Any school that has a reasonable school choir, a decent drama department, access to a Dance or Ballet school + senior students and / or staff member(s) + local community, Peace, Eco- and Faith group leaders with an interest in global governance, can put this concert together with a handful of rehearsals. The best incentive is a local government who will offer a local theatre or concert hall where massed choirs – and parents – from local schools can come together in a Finale Concert.
C R E A T E Y O U R O W N F O R M A T: In any Peace Child project, we expect the young people of the cast, and their director / producer, to create their own dialogue, and choose their own songs: you can choose any song like from the Peace Child Song Book. Or you can write your own, or choose others that express your feelings more accurately. FEEL FREE to do what works for you in any format!
Part ONE: Come into My Joy – Peace Day 2045
BLACKOUT: A spotlight splits the darkness Stage Right and a young woman steps into it singing:
Song: PEACE DAY!
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
Soloist 1 Come into my joy!
A 2nd spotlight splits the darkness Stage Left and a
young man steps into it singing:
Soloist 2 Come into my pain!
They move together, singing:
Soloists 1 & 2 Come – you be a friend of mine!
I’ll be the same!
As I go through my years with many thousand tears
I never see my guiding light
The clouds in front of me won’t ever let me see
I’ve grown so weary of the night
I’ve tried so many times to read between the lines
But the words keep turning round
And a thousand fears keep ringing in my ears
And I’m so weary of the sound –
So give me Peace Enough,
Peace Enough, Peace Enough!
So give me peace enough, for peace of mind
Everything’s coming up sunshine! (x2)
Cast & Chorus enter at the back of the theatre, dancing down the aisles – the
dance troupe enter on stage, dancing:
Come into my joy. Come into my pain.
Come you’ll be a friend of mine
I’ll be the same X 2
Cast & Chorus fill the aisles, houselights full up. They stand to sing as the
dance troupe perform a dance with streamers and colourful Mayday costumes on
the stage:
ALL (Majestic)
Peace Day, Peace Day we all say
Happy world. Happy Day.
Wear a leaf and show the way
Celebrating this peace day (4 Bars)
Peace Day, Peace Day we all say
Happy world, holiday.
Wear a leaf and show the way
Celebrating this peace day.
Peace Day, Peace Day sing and dance
It will be a big romance
People of the world as one
Peace Day, Peace Day has begun.
Celebrations, jubilations,
Laughter, shouting , lots of fun
Singing, dancing, take your partner
Happiness for everyone
Peace enough for all mankind
Healthy body, happy mind
Faith and love the world as one
Peace Day. Peace Day has begun
Come into my joy. Come into my pain.
Come you’ll be a friend of mine
I’ll be the same X 2
Come into my joy. Come into my pain.
(slow) Come you’ll be a friend of mine.
I’ll be the same.
Cast & Chorus hug each other, wishing each other: “Happy Peace Day! Happy Peace Day!” When the Story-teller comes
on, the chorus take their places in the risers at the back of stage. The dancers EXIT.
Part TWO: Welcome to Peace Day 2045
The Concert Host for the evening is an Older Person (OP) – perhaps a local celebrity. S/he welcomes the Chorus and the Audience with [Words to the effect….] –
Today – Peace Day 2045 – we come together to mark and celebrate the centenary of one of the most precious, most extraordinary, and most successful institutions our human family has ever created: the United Nations. HAPPY BIRTHDAY UN!! We owe so much of what we have today to the thought leadership and diplomatic skills of some of the most committed public servants the world has ever seen.
We have a world at peace! A world in which poverty and climate change
are a distant memory. In which HIV-AIDS, Malaria, TB, Maternal Mortality – Over! Climate
Change? Not a problem any more! Our economy is completely green and
sustainable – and the environment and bio-diversity are on the mend. Human
Rights, oppression, exploitation by employers or governments is a crime for
which you can expect severe punishment where ever you try to hide in the world.
This is the world our United Nations, our United Faiths and our United Peoples
have created.
And yet, and yet – as recently as
25 years ago, it was looking increasingly improbable that such a world could
ever be created! Back then – the talk
was all about nationalism – “My Nation First!”
“The Me Generation…” Many of us felt that the UN would never get to it’s
100th birthday. It did because that natural majority of us who
prefer peace to war – who thirst for fairness and justice over greed and
exploitation – we stood up and were counted. And we found that there were
thousands – millions! – of us who felt the same way. And so, as we celebrate
this peaceful world and the United Nations organisation that helped create it,
let us look back and thank the young people of the 2020s – and the elders who
helped them. It was their priorities – their idealism, their energy and vision
– that created this world we enjoy today.
Song: Reach Out!
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO (@ 1hr.17mins. 43secs)/ INSTRUMENTAL]
Reach out for a star!
Come out from where you are
Show me what you can do
Believe in me, I believe in you!
Reach out for your dream
It’s not as hard as it may seem
Together we can make it through
Together – me and you!
Wake up -open our eyes,
This is our world, our paradise.
Reach out, don’t be afraid
Come on now, we” find a way
There’s a whole new world for us to see
There’s a universe in you and me.
Reach out, put your hand in mine!
Oh see! – see how we shine!
Together – we’ll make it through,
Together me and you!
Don’t be shy, just be yourself!
You are your greatest wealth!
Reach out for a star!
Come out from where you are
Show me what you can do
Believe in me, I believe in you!
Show me what you can do
Believe in me, I believe in you!
Part THREE: The Achievements of the United Nations
As the song ends, the Older Person (OP) comes forward as the UN Symbol appears on the screen. S/he clicks through the Powerpoint as s/he speaks:
Host So let’s look more closely at the UN’s achievements, especially in its early years – before it re-invented itself to deal with 21st challenges. The UN has asked us to answer the question: “What three things can save the World?” – so we want you to listen carefully to our story and, at the end, come up with your own answers to that question. Let’s review the history of the UN’s first 75 years [be sure to open the pictures in Google slides and print out the Speaker Notes that explain them.]
But, as the 21st Century moved on, the UN began to lose its way a little. The concept of globalisation – multi-lateralism – became devalued and scorned as it appeared only to benefit the rich – not the great mass of the poor. And it had no tax-raising powers to make its great ideas happen. It’s very existence was dependent on the willingness of its rich member governments to fund it.
In the early 2020s, many young people got very angry with it. I know – because I was one of them.
As he speaks, some of the young chorus (YC) members come forward,
talking amongst themselves:
YC 1 This United Nations
thing? – it’s all a bit of a nonsense.
YC 2 We’d miss it if it
wasn’t there!
YC 3 Would we? Look – it hasn’t stop the wars in Syria,
Yemen and Central Africa. The Russians shoot down a passenger plane and killing
nearly 300 people – the UN doesn’t lift a finger. No one gives a damn about the
UN any more…
YC 4 It was set up to
save humanity from the scourge of War, but 109 million people have died in wars
since 1945
YC 5 And it may have
helped dismantle empires but the rich countries are still in charge!
YC 2 Over a billion
people still live in Poverty
YC 4 Over a hundred
million never go to school
YC 2 Hundreds of millions
have no access to doctors when they need them
YC 4 So – millions of
mothers die when they have their babies…
YC 3 Tens of millions of
young people like us are un-employed
YC 4 – or have terrible, unsafe, badly paid jobs!
YC 1 But the worst is
that our world is dying – dying from climate change and environmental
pollution!
All Listen – (Music starts)
Song: W O R L D (1)
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
Note: on the VIDEO, you will find that we use slides to illustrate the words of the song. Several of these are NOT appropriate for younger audiences – so we urge you to work with your young people to choose pictures that they feel are appropriate and reflect the concerns that they feel.
World
– look at the way we are
Look
at the things we do
Look
at the words we say
Life!
– look at the way we live
Look
at the love we had
Look
at the things we’ve made
Gone,
gone are all those lovely days
Gone
are all the peaceful ways
All
that’s left is old and grey
And
our world is fading
Our
world is dying – today!
As the song ends, the Older Person (OP) comes out challenging:
YC 5 The main reason our
world is dying is because we allow the unregulated use of oil and gas to power
our cars, our planes, our trade and industry.
YC 1 It will literally
kill our planet!
YC 2 The UN knows this:
it had a big meeting in Paris where all its members agreed to do something!
YC 3 But they didn’t. Not
as much as they said they would.
YC 4 And then America
elected Donald Trump – who tried to pretend that Climate Change was a Chinese
plot designed to ruin the American Economy!
YC 1 And the British
people voted for Brexit which meant that the government didn’t have time to
think about anything else for ten years.
YC 5 And the people? We knew it was happening but actually we’ve
done little to stop it: we still drive our cars to school, fly off on summer
holidays, and eat our hamburgers!
YC 1 No one ever made it
a priority at our schools to learn about this stuff:
YC 2 We had to learn all about
our History but never about the challenges that lay ahead in our future!
YC 3 And every day, the
oil industry and big business spent billions on advertising, persuading us –
urging us! – to spend more, consume more – destroy the planet more!
Song: Petroleum Energy Complex
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
It’s a petroleum energy complex
There’s no
one to blame, ‘cause Oil’s the game!
We’re playing
for World Domination
Forget heart
and soul, ‘cause power’s the goal
Time to stop
the strike and reach your potential
Go back to
your schools and live by the rules
So you can be
the next generational
To take on
the role, ‘cause money’s the goal!
Oh – what a hopeless case you’ve made!
No one really cares
Oh, won’t you stop this masquerade?
You cannot win this game!
‘Cause that’s the way that
it is,
It’s the way that it’s been
And the way it will be –
For all eternity….
INSTRUMENTAL BREAK
It’s a petroleum energy complex
Get on and get trained – join this gravy train!
Get passionate about making money!
You’re all in a state! – the climate can wait!
You’re out of your depth in this jungle
Get into our game! – or you’ll take the blame –
If it ends up
in a horrible shambles!
At least you’ll have fun before your life is
done!!
Oh – what a hopeless case you are!!
Your heads are in the clouds!
Oh – what a crazy lot you are!
Thinking should NOT be allowed!
‘Cause this is the way that it is,
It’s the way that it’s been
For all eternity….
And the way it will be –
Part FOUR: Rising to the Challenge of the Fossil Fuel Industry
The stage is set out with chairs as though in a TV Chat Show
Studio. The Young Chat Show Host comes out – as Floor Managers wave “APPLAUSE”
signs and get the audience to applaud and cheer wildly:
Host Good evening – thank you! Thank you so much…. Welcome to a very special
edition of my show where we’ll explore the issues that the leaders of our world
are going to be discussing at the big UN Climate Change conference coming up in
a few weeks’ time. Will you welcome first one of the most colourful leaders of
America’s fossil fuel industry – Mr Tim Jackman!! (Big
Applause) And, representing the millions
of young people who have created the Schools Strike 4 Climate around the world,
please welcome: (names of the 5 x young
chorus members chosen to be in the scene – Big Applause as they come on)
Host So – Tim: can I start with you: why do you think that
99% of all the UN scientists are wrong – and you are right – about climate
change?
Tim Well – thank you so much for having me on the show!
It’s a real honor!! To answer your
question: these UN Scientists, and this
whole Climate Change Conference shenanigans is another one of those expensive
UN bean-feasts dreamed up by left-wing, proto-communist governments in Europe
to prevent Americans like us making money. It’s all a load of Hog-wash – as I’m
sure you know!
Host What do you have to say to that,
Climate strikers?
YC 1 Just this: take a look at this
line of human history – stretching from the year Nought to the year 3000: that
little blip in the middle represents the extent of the fossil-fuel era. Before
that, all energy was renewable. After 2050, oil will have run, Tim’s company
will have gone out of business and our generation will have to survive on renewable
energy!
YC 2 Tim will be dead – but our
children and grand-children will have to shift to Renewable energy, whatever
people he thinks!
Host So what would you like to see the
UN’s member governments agree at their Conference?
YC 3 Agree to criminalise the use of
Oil and Coal, and set aside $45 Trillion dollars NOW to build a green,
sustainable global energy economy.
Tim That’s OUTRAGEOUS!! It’s Fantasy!
Complete, pie-in-the-sky dreamland. Can you imagine what would happen in
the markets if we suddenly said we were NOT going to mine our existing reserves
of oil & coal but leave them in the ground because a few students and pinko
European governments were worried about Climate Change?! You kids have no idea what you’re talking
about!
YC 4 I’m sorry, sir! We know exactly
what we’re talking about
Host How are you guys so certain?
You’re just kids! I wasn’t that certain about anything when I was your age!
YC 5 This: [The
Arctic circle slides flash up on the screen] The Arctic ice-cap in 1970 –
and the Arctic ice-cap now. That’s not some ice-munching monster! That’s global warming.
YC 4 That’s climate change melting
our future!
YC 1 Caused by people like Tim
producing oil and gas and coal for profit.
YC 2 That’s what we’ve got to stop!
YC 3 But we didn’t come here to
argue! We came to try to persuade Tim to stop being part of the problem and
become a big part of the solution.
Tim How do I become a ‘Big part of the solution’?
YC 4 By coming with us to our
government to ask for subsidies and legislation that will support a transition
away from the Brown fossil-fuel Economy to the clean Green renewable one!
Tim You mean we should ask our government
– our Members of Parliament! – to impose taxes on my industry that will cost us
billions and double the electricity bills for everyone and any one who might
vote for them?!
YC 1 Yes!! That’s precisely what we
want you to do!
Tim I’m sorry but that’s plain
Crazy!
YC 5 No! It’s extremely sane: all over the world,
smart people are investing in renewables – building windmills, investing in
solar voltaics, ground source heat-pumps. That’s where the profits are going to
be made this century.
YC 2 Get ahead of the game, Tim!
Shift your business into renewable energy.
Host What do you say to that Tim?
Tim A few windmills pissing in the
wind!? You’re kidding me, right? I can
make more money out of one day’s tar sands mining than a whole year of putting
up windmills.
YC 5 I don’t think you’ll find the
evidence supports that:
YC 4 Tim – I hear your new wife has
just given you a baby daughter?
Flossie??!!
Tim Ah, Flossie – she’ll be the
death of me!
YC 1 No, Tim! You’ll be the death of Flossie unless you
change what you’re doing here.
YC 3 It is true, Tim – it’s like
you’re putting a gun to her pretty little head and squeezing the trigger…
Tim That’s not fair!
Host – don’t be offensive, guys.
YC 4 Tim! Instead of being the bad
guy in all this, you could be the Hero, leading the way to a bright,
sustainable future!
YC 3 Bringing us prosperity that
Flossie’s generation can live with! Not profits that will kill us all.
YC 1 Come on, Tim! You know it makes
sense! Come on strike with us!
YC 4 Sit down with the Energy
Committee and work out a tax and subsidy regime that makes it more profitable
to invest in the green economy than in the old, brown polluting economy.
YC 2 That’s all we’re asking you to
do!
YC 3 Get on our side – Flossie’s
side.
YC 5 Get on the right side of
history, Tim!
Host What do you say, Tim?
Tim [firmly, decisively] No – I’m not persuaded and I never will
be! Because even if I was able to
persuade our government that you were right, there’s no way the Saudis,
Russians, Venezuelans and the rest would ever agree! They’re making far too
much money from oil and gas and they’re far too greedy to let it go. Unless we
all do it, NOTHING will change! I see
where you’re coming from, kids – and a big part of me admires you and wants to
help! But I can’t. I know my share-holders – the big ones
anyway, and they’d think I’d gone soft in the head if I start talking to them
about “building a Green Economy.” I’d be
fired in a heartbeat!
Host Well that’s about all we’ve got
time for! I’m tempted to give a points victory to the kids – because I think
you touched the hearts of an oilmen with your passion, didn’t they Tim!
Tim I love kids! But they didn’t change my mind… Thanks!
YC 1 Thanks for what?!
YC 5 Thanks for letting us come on
the show! This was more than a points
victory, folks! You just heard an oilman
admit that he knows we’re right – but he’s prevented by his share-holders and
governments led by dictators from doing the right thing. That’s the fight that
the UN – and right-minded governments must take up on our behalf of our
generation. That’s the fight for survival on which we’re all engaged. And I beg
you all to join us!!
Host Thank you kids! Good call – good luck at the UN Conference.
Give ‘em hell, won’t you?!
Part FIVE: Let’s Make Peace!
The screen flashes: “APPLAUSE!” – the lights fade and the chairs
are cleared. The OP comes forward into a spotlight:
OP Climate change was
the biggest issue for us kids back then in the 2020s – but there was another,
vital, issue that was barely touched upon: Peace! The UN had been set up to “ – save
succeeding generations from the scourge
of war….” Though over 100 million people had died in
wars since it was founded, the UN had done a pretty good job in preventing another
global conflict. But – in the 2020s, the nuclear arms treaties were coming to
an end and the effectiveness of UN peace-keeping operations were being called
into question. We, the younger generation had no concept of war and peace: here
in the UK – peace was a given. War was an excitement contained by video games
and, if we lived in a bad area, gang warfare. So – let us remind ourselves of
that incredible fight for peace that many of us engaged in. For – as we were often told – a nuclear war
could damage the climate more in 20 seconds than any fossil fuel Company could
do in 20 years.
Stage lights up as an Old Soldier (OS) comes on and sits in a
chair, down-stage centre. The young chorus members stand – asking him questions:
[These questions are only guides: please make up your own based on your
conversations with the “Old Soldier” whom you select: s/he should be a
community member who has either served in the military, campaigned for peace,
done national service, or fought in a foreign war.]
OS <<
– Gives his/ her name and regiment – >>
Reporting for duty!
YC 1 What is your memory of war?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 2 Whose fault is it that countries go
to war?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 3 Can wars be prevented?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 4 What can young people do to prevent
wars?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 5 How would you like to see the UN
strengthened the better to keep the peace?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 1 Why are you still working for Peace?
OS << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 2 Thank
you so much for talking with us. I think we can all agree that we – and the UN
– must do much, much more to work for Peace. For without Peace – peace between
ourselves, peace between humanity and the environment, and peace right here in
our minds – we shall never have the future we want. – (Music starts)
Song: Let’s Make Peace!
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
All the time
through the day and through the night
I think about
my life in this world
So many times
I’ve tried to find
A way to live
my life – a way to ease my mind
I know this
world could die for ever
And people
are the reason why
Children and
parents, lovers and poets
They just
can’t hear our planet cry –
We want this
world to survive for ever
And all the
people join their hands together
In a bond of
love, kindness and friendship
We can make
peace with the earth
Too many
people have died in wars
And we want
that no one else should suffer
Not again.
Half the
world lives in despair
We’ve got to
show them, show them that we care!
We know our
World is a wonderful place
And we must
help to keep it so
I want to
believe that this world will be
A peaceful
place for all to grow!
We want this
world to survive…. (Chorus
x 3)
Let’s join
our hands together
Let’s make peace throughout our world!
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Part FIVE: Back to the Future – 2045!
The House lights go down – the UN Symbol comes up on the screen – and the Chorus troop in down the aisles, singing:
Song: S I N G!
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
Sing! I do wish the world would sing!
I do wish the world would say
How they love to live and play
How they need each other’s
–
Peace! That is all we want to have,
That is all we want to share
Let us live our lives in peace
Oh let us give this life a chance to –
Love! – love is all I need,
Love is all I want,
Love is everywhere
Peace! – Peace is all I want,
Peace is all I need,
Peace – everywhere!
The
Chorus splits into two choirs, either side of the stage – singing in harmony
with each other:
Come into my joy! Love!
– love is all I need,
Come into my pain! Love
is all I want,
Come you be a friend of mine, Love
is everywhere!
I’ll be the same!
Come
into my joy!
Peace! – Peace is all I want, Come
into my pain
Peace is all I need, Come
you be a friend of mine!
Peace – everywhere! I’ll
be the same!
(Repeat x 3)
The
Host walks into the Spotlight, down stage centre:
Host Welcome back to our celebration of
the centenary of the United Nations in this – the 45th year of the 21st Century! We’ve
talked a bit about how it’s the UN’s responsibility to keep the peace between
nations – managing the military conflicts through a combination of
peace-making, peace-building, peace-keeping and conflict transformation. But
there are many other components of the Peace process about which we need to be
constantly vigilant. Pre-eminent amongst them is the need to preserve peace and
understanding between people’s of different faith traditions.
Part SIX: Uniting Faiths = Uniting Nations!
Host 85% of our human family subscribes to
one of our many great religions. Atheists are a small minority. So – although
we may each believe that we worship the “one true God…” – it is important that
we understand each other’s faith and not merely ‘tolerate’ it – but respect its
traditions and customs, rejoice in the comforts that each one brings to its
congregations and celebrate with them its beauty and majesty.
Song: LISTEN TO ME!
[SONG / SCORE / VIDEO (@ 32 mins. 30 secs.)]
Please listen
to me – hear the words that I say
We live in
one world so our home is the same
The same sun
is our fire
The same
clouds give us rain
So whatever
you desire – our future’s the same!
Chorus Say not that you’re Christian – nor
Muslim nor Jew
Say not that
you’re red – nor that I am blue
Say only we
are friends,
And that we
want to live in Peace
In this here
our world, let all war’s cease
For where
would we go – if this world we destroy?
There’s only
one home, this world, to enjoy
The same
world fills our hunger
And we all
breathe the air
So change
your desires, this world we must share
Say not that
you’re rich – nor that you are poor
Say not that
you’re less – nor that you are more
Say only we
are friends,
And we want
to live in Peace
In this here
our world – let all war’s cease
In this here
our world – let all war’s cease
As the song ends, a Priest, a Rabbi and an Imam (or lay person
from a church, synagogue and temple) come on stage and sit in three chairs as
the young chorus members stand and ask them questions:
[Please
adapt the following questions based on your conversations with the
representatives you select from each of the Abrahamic faith traditions. Do
include other faith leaders – Bahais, Hindus, Sikhs – or any other significant
component of your community. We shall be working with the Woolf Institute to design
a process for delivering this part of the Concert – with ideas for the
workshops / conversations that should take place between the older people from
the faith traditions and the young chorus members.]
Priest <<
– Gives his/ her name and Church – >>
Imam << – Gives
his/ her name and Mosque – >>
Rabbi <<
– Gives his/ her name and Synagogue – >>
YC 1 Do you
feel that uniting faiths helps or hinders the goal of uniting nations?
Imam << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Rabbi << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Priest << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 2 Do you
feel that you’ve done enough to promote understanding of your different faiths?
Rabbi << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Priest << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Imam << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 3 How can
young people like us who seek to create a stronger, more united global family, help
create greater understanding and friendship between all peoples of all faiths?
Priest << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Imam << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Rabbi << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 4 All your
religions promote peace: how can they help the UN better to do its work?
Imam << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Rabbi << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Priest << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
YC 5 How can
the UN, youth and faith leaders work more closely together to achieve peace?
Rabbi << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Priest << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Imam << – Answers in his / her own words –
>>
Song: I BELIEVE!
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
If the sun
lost it’s shine – and the trees started to die!
I guess I’d
still be full of hope – and yes, I know the reason why!
If the wind
grew too old, and the seas started to dry
Yes I would
still be full of love – don’t ask – don’t ask me why!
I still
believe in God
I still
believe in us His people!
And if you really
want to know
I still
believe in this His land
So don’t turn
your head away – don’t give up on who you are
Just keep
loving more each day – and the world will shine for you!
I guess it’s
all in the mind – what you feel is what you see
So within your
heart just sing these words
Come sing –
come sing with me!
We believe in
God
We believe in
us His people!
And if you
really want to know
We still
believe in this His land
We believe in
God
We believe in
us His people!
And if you
really want to know
I believe – Yes we
believe
I believe – Yes we
believe
We believe in
this His land!
gh
Part SEVEN: Uniting Enemies = Uniting Nations!
Host It was Abraham Lincoln who said: “You
can not destroy your enemy by killing him. That only makes you more enemies.
The only way to destroy your enemy is by making him your friend!” All through its early years, the UN was
pole-axed by the Cold War conflict of two of its most powerful members: the United
States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War ended in 1990, and – for a moment – it
seemed that there could be Super-power collaboration. But in the last few
years, things have gotten much worse: Russia and China seem to be creating an
anti-western coalition that attacks and undermines all our values – from
liberal democracy to human rights to the rule of law. What can we do about this? Talk to Russians – understand where they are
coming from. Make them our Friends! So – will you welcome please, our friend,
<< – ?? local Russian Resident ?? – >> who is going to answer our
questions.
The Russian Resident (RR) comes on stage and sits in a chair downstage centre. Three young chorus members come forward and ask him / her
questions:
[These
are just a guide: plan your questions with the personchosen for this
conversation.]
RR << – Introduces herself –
>>
YC 1 How do we in the West make Peace
with Putin and the Russian People?
RR << – Answers in her own words – >>
YC 2 How can the United Nations help
build peace between enemies?
RR << – Answers in her own words – >>
YC 3 There are some pretty disgusting
governments in our world today – Maduro in Venezuela, Assad in Syria, Trump in
the USA – Russia seems to be best friends with all of them! It’s hard for us to be friends with Russia
while you support and defend appalling people like these!
RR << – Answers in her own words – >>
YC 2 We’re told that Russia loves its
forests. And yet now, you are allowing Chinese industrialists to tear down the
forests of Siberia for profit, and drill for oil all over the Russian Far East:
why do Russian people care so little for their environment?
RR << – Answers in her own words – >>
YC 1 What can we – normal young people –
do to forge friendships with Russia?
RR << – Answers in her own words – >>
The Host leads the applause as the Russian Resident leaves the stage, thanked and hugged by the young Chorus members. Music starts, and one of the Young Chorus members comes forward to sing:
Song: Myechta ( = Dream in Russian)
V’chera mnyeh snilsia son o tebyeh ya daleko tepyer ot tebyah
V’chera pyer ot tebyah slyozee glazyakh
Oo menya myechta
Shto boodyet mir
Myechta!
Oo menya myechta
Shto boodyet mir
Myechta!
Seechas droozyam o tebyeh goveryoo eemchoodno
Shto ya tebya
Liubliu seechas droozyam o tebyeh goveryoo eemchoodno
Shto ya tebya
Liubliu tebya vsegda liubliu
Oo menya myechta
Shto boodyet mir
Myechta!
Oo menya myechta
Shto boodyet mir
Myechta!
V’boodoo shyem ya vizhoo
Nashik detyay oni kharoshi droozyah ooleebka
Oo menya myechta
V’boodoo
Oo menya
ooleebka oo tebya
Oo tebyadoosh shiroka
Ya doosha oo tebya
Oo tebya Oo menya
Shto boodyet mir
Myechta!
Part EIGHT: Uniting Genders = Uniting Nations!
Host The UN has, from its earliest
days, worked hard to achieve gender equality. Starting with the Commission on
the Status of Women, on through massive Women’s Summits in Mexico City – and
then Beijing, it now has an Agency totally devoted to improving the status of
women. And yet – and yet – you will realise that women are still often
perceived as the weaker sex: many men still treat women appallingly, and many
companies still pay women less than they pay men for the same work. Here is one
woman who has spent her life working to improve the status of women. Young
people – will you welcome please, and question, Ms ??
[Choose
a local community leader who has worked for the rights of women – and who is
knowledgeable about the discrimination that still exists. Let young women from
the Chorus question her in their own way]
The older feminist / women’s rights activist (WRA) comes on stage
and sits in a chair downstage centre. Three young female chorus members come
forward and ask her questions:
[These
are just a guide: plan your questions with the elder woman chosen for this
conversation.]
WRA << – Introduces
herself – >>
YC 1 Ever
since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there was supposed to
be equality between women and men: why hasn’t it happened in your lifetime?
WRA << – Answers
in her own words – >>
YC 2 How did
you fight for equal rights?
WRA << – Answers
in her own words – >>
YC 3 What do
you think we should do differently?
WRA << – Answers
in her own words – >>
YC 4 Which
have been the biggest breakthrough moments?
WRA << – Answers
in her own words – >>
YC 5 Which
are the current women’s issues we should focus upon first?
WRA << – Answers
in her own words – >>
The Host leads the applause as the WRA leaves the stage, thanked
and hugged by the young Chorus members
as Music starts, and one of the Young Chorus members comes forward to sing:
Song: I WHO AM I?
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / ORCHESTRAL AUDIO]
I – who am I,
what is this world,
Why am I
here?
I – what am
I, what is my cause,
What must I
be?
Is there a
reason for living
And having
this place of our own
What power
conceived me?
Abandoned me
to the unknown?
We, who are
we? What is this place?
Why are we
here?
We, who are
we to be so lost
And all
alone?
Is there a
reason for living
And having
this place of our own
What power
conceived me?
Abandoned me
to the unknown?
I – who am I,
what is this world,
Why am I
here?
Part NINE: Peace Child Scene – UN Security Council
Host
So – who are we? Are we the generation who destroyed the earth
– or the generation who healed and restored it? That was the question we faced
back in 2020 when we stood on the brink of the Climate Change catastrophe. So –
how did we make it the big success story of the UN’s last 30 years? How did we
build on the incredible year of 2015 when the UN got all the world’s
governments to agree to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate
Change Accords?
Big UN symbol appears on the screen at the back of the stage. The
Actors come on in dark suits, playing diplomats, come in and sit around a
horseshoe table representing the UN Security Council Chamber. They negotiate
lazily with each other – pompously affecting poses of great moment with
dignity:
UN S-G Blah-bla-bla-blah! Blaaaaahh!
Diplomat 2 Bla-bla-blaaaaahh!
Diplomat 3 Blah?
Diplomat 1 Blah-blah! Blah-blah! Bla-bla-blaaaaahh!
Diplomat 2 Blah-bla-bla-blah! Blaaaaahh!
The young chorus members come forward, tentative: one of the diplomats looks up:
UN S-G Who are you?
YC 1 We represent the Billion School
kids who’ve been on strike the last ten days!
YC 2 You agreed to meet with us if
we called off our strike?
Diplomat 1 Oh yes!
I remember – just let us finish off this important point:
blah-bla-bla-blah-Blaaahh! Bla-bla-bla-blaaahhh.
Diplomat 2 Blah?!
Diplomat 3 Blah-blah! Blah-blah! Bla-bla-blaaaaahh!
UN S-G Thank you! (turning to the kids) OK.
You had something to say?!
YC 5 We do! It is an honour to address your Excellencies
in this iconic chamber! We’re here to talk about Security – our security. Your
Security – everyone’s security, but especially the Security of future
generations, which is currently gravely at risk.
YC 3 Humanity stands at a
crossroads: one way leads to peace, prosperity and a future we all want in a
green economy. The other leads over a precipice to human extinction along with
the extinction of many of the great creatures with whom we share this planet.
YC 4 We called the world’s young
people out on strike because we want you, their governments, to make a promise
– to us and to future generations – that you would take the first course – and
not the second.
YC 1 That you would find ways to
resolve conflicts peacefully, build a green economy to reduce global warming
and provide a safe sustainable future for all of us…
YC 2 That you would guarantee
education for all, health for all, food and shelter for all
YC 5 Human rights for all….
Diplomat 3 Wait a minute, wait a minute. Point of
Order, Madame Secretary-General: what right do these children have to barge in
here and make these demands of us? Does
this mean that anyone who indulges in civil disobedience is given the right to
address this chamber?
UN S-G Certainly Not! – Excellencies.
Diplomat 2 A further point of order: we have youth
councils and parliaments in our country. Do we have any information on whether
those official bodies were consulted and involved in the preparation of these
so-called demands these children are making to us?
UN S-G Were they so consulted?
YC 5 Not really!
YC 1 We did our best to get the
youth councils and parliaments involved but…
YC 2 Most of them were rather stuffy
and bureaucratic.
YC 3 We did much better getting to
kids on their own…
YC 5 Via social media….
Diplomat 2 As I thought: these youth have no
democratic legitimacy.
Diplomat 3 Further – we have expert think-tanks all
over the world: have any of these proposals been peer-reviewed by any one with
any credibility?
YC 2 They are based on online
consultations with over a billion young people in over 180 countries!
YC 1 What greater credibility do you
need?!
Diplomat 2 I would argue, Madam Secretary-General,
that these proposals fall far short of the democratic legitimacy and the
academic credibility required for serious discussion in this Chamber, and that
we call this session to a halt right now….
YC 4 – and let you faff around for
another 40 years with all your Blah-Blah – and posturing!!
YC 3 We need action NOW!
YC 5 Can’t you at least LISTEN to
what we are asking?
The Diplomats look at each other – Diplomats 2 & 3 shake their
heads.
Diplomat 1 The ideas here are scarcely new. They have
been around a long time and, thought we sympathise with your frustration, there
is very little that we, from here, can do about it.
Diplomat 2 I think it’s time to thank you for coming and
to show you the door.
Diplomat 3 Good-bye, children!
YC 1 Will you stop calling us
“Children!” We’re young adults –
citizens of this planet like you, but unlike you, we’re likely to suffer the
consequences of your in-action for many more years than you will. You’ll be
dead!
Diplomat 2 You will not get very far by insulting us:
call security – and get them out of here!
YC 3 Please don’t! We really should call Security on you! You are the threat to our security!
YC 5 It would be a mistake to throw
us out: the only reason we called off the strike is because you agreed to
listen to us and – we thought – work with us to implement a Global Promise to
the youth of the world. If you throw us out, I simply have to push this button
on my cellphone, and the billion kids who were on strike will come out again –
and stay on strike until you give us reason to believe that you, and your
fellow governments, are serious about guaranteeing us a fair and sustainable
planet on which to live our lives.
Diplomat 3 Are you threatening us?!
YC 1 Absolutely!
YC 2 Just as you are mortally
threatening our future!
Diplomat 2 Madam Secretary-General: I trust you will
agree. This is intolerable. Please!
Intervene!
UN S-G I’m interested to know what you
would have us do?
YC 4 Sit with us. Listen to us –
Listen to these requests drawn up by all the Major Groups which you in your
Security Council seek to serve.
YC 3 And then ACT upon them.
UN S-G So – what are these requests?
Diplomat 1 Madam Secretary-General: you’re not seriously going to give these
children a hearing?!
UN S-G We spend our lives in this chamber
listening to member government’s requests: I have no objection spending some
time listening to the requests of future generations.
Diplomats 1,2
and 3: We must object!!
UN S-G Objection over-ruled. Young Adults – the floor is your’s:
DROP-IN DIALOGUE:
Remember: The UN wants to start a Global Conversation – and this is the place to do it: we always hope that every Peace Child play will be re-written by the cast from start to finish – but often they don’t as it’s easier just to do the play as it is written. Which is why we have DROP-IN sections: we don’t write the dialogue so you HAVE to!! You should start by looking at the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: think about how you would tell the diplomats how to achieve five or six of those. Then there are literally THOUSANDS of Global Youth Declarations you can study – all drawn up by previous generations of young people. (If you google the phrase: “Global Youth Declarations” – you will find 35m!) The Commonwealth Youth Declarations are worth a look. Check out the UN Youth Declaration from the DPI/NGO Conference at the UN. Look at the results of the UN’s Global Priorities surveys (- which, to date, have analysed the global priorities of nearly 10m people.) Also, reflect on the dialogues you have planned for this Concert: build on the research you do for them: come up with your own priorities and policy suggestions. You can even engage your audience in the conversation – and build some answers out of audience participation and improvisation. When you have some good answers, get registered at the UN75 Website, then make a summary of the main ideas you’ve come up with and submit them via facebook or twitter to the UN. Try to come up with 5 or 6 priority suggestions for a “Global Promise” that governments can make to every child born on this earth. Having got them to make that promise, we suggest you soften your demands by closing with dialogue along these lines:
YC 1 Your excellencies: this is
pretty complex stuff
YC 3 We haven’t a clue how you’d actually
do any of it!
UN S-G You think we do?!
YC 4 Yes!! I mean – NO! Of course – none of us know
exactly how to do it, but if we agree it has to be done, we can sit down
together and work out HOW to do it ….
Diplomat 3 It cannot be done!
UN S-G But you would agree: it has to be
done!
Diplomat 2 As the children – I’m sorry – young
adults, said earlier: these are the things that we have been trying – and
failing – to do for the last 40 years.
Diplomat 1 What possible difference would the
addition of a few young people to the dialogue do?
YC 5 All the difference in the
World! Because we – and our children –
HAVE to live with the consequences of what we do now – in the next ten years!
YC 4 We cannot afford to fail!
YC 3 We cannot do the blah-blah
thing! We have to Act. NOW!!
Diplomat 2 And do what exactly?
YC 1 Work it out. We’ve told you
what has to be done: you tell us why it cannot be done. And then we figure out
how to overcome the obstacles you know about but we don’t!
YC 2 TOGETHER – we make it happen!
YC 3 That’s what we want you to do –
help us make the Global Promise to all those children not yet born who will
want a healthy planet to live their lives upon.
YC 4 You were children once: you had
the same dreams and aspirations that I and every young person has.
YC 2 Remember that – and work with
us to make the Future we Want!
YC 1 The Future we need to survive
Music starts. The diplomats look at each – a smile of resignation suffusing their faces. During the song, the diplomats sit together with the youth – reading through the papers, looking to each other for clarifications, working together – working out how to create the Future We Want. Together.
Song: Child for a day
[SCORE / AUDIO / VIDEO / INSTRUMENTAL]
I was a child
who ran full of laughter
I was a child who lived for a day
My heart full of sunshine
My heart full of smiles
I was a child for a day.
We were the children who sang in the
morning
We were the children who laughed at the
sun
Who listened to those
Who spoke with their wisdom
We were the ones we would say
We’re getting older as time goes by
A little older every day
We were the children of – yesterday.
We are the men who worry of nothing
We are the men who fight without aim
Who listen to no one
Yet speak of our wisdom
We are the pawns in the game
We’re getting older as time goes by
A little older every day
We were the children of – yesterday.
OP Thank you! If I’ve learned nothing else in my 70 years,
it is that you only get somewhere if you work together – if you try to love –
or at least – like! each other. The
vigour, optimism and dynamism of youth is invaluable as is the experience of us
older ones. And that’s why the UN must remain our figurehead these next 75
years – for to unite nations, you must first unite people – people of all ages,
genders, faiths, ethnicities, cultures and quirks. We are one human family. All
of us. Together!
Part TEN: Question and Answer Session
The Host sits at the centre with the Young Chorus Members who have taken part in the dialogues on one side – and the elders – the old Soldier, the Women’s Rights
Activist, the Russian Resident, the Priest, the Rabbi and the Imam on the other. The Host invites questions from the audience – which one youth / one
elder answer in turn.
This is where, again, you can answer the UN’s 75th Anniversary Question: “What three things can you do to save the world?”
Gather your audience’s answers, make a summary of them, get registered at the UN75 Website, then submit them via the UN’s 75th Anniversary Feedback Form