Peace Child Generic Script - 2018

Time: 2050

Generic Peace Child Script (2018)

by David Woollcombe Songs & Lyrics by David Gordon

Based on The Peace Book by

Bernard Benson

Location: Your Town / Country / Village: the Peace Child story imagines Peace Day being celebrated in towns and villages across the world. This script was created for a theatre company in Moscow: the challenge for you is to imagine your young people starting it in your community. You have to re-invent the story, using local names for your characters, your language, your president, and your ideas for how the story could happen.

Stage Setting: Bare Stage – screen at back; Peace Child symbol projected on the screen;

Cast: For this version, the 8 x Named Characters have Russian names: Marina, Vanya, Nina, Yegor, Nadia, Misha, Zhenya, Sasha. For your production, you will need to re-name them with names local to your country; there other male and female performers (minimum 8 – no maximum) – who dance, sing and play the Story-teller, Professor, President, Aides, Secretary-General, Diplomats etc. If possible, there are also, 4 x young children who sit with the Story-teller.

Scene ONE: Peace Day 2050:

SONG ONE: Come into my Joy / As I go through my years / Peace Day SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Lights go down. Screen goes dark. Wait until the audience fall completely silent. Beat – then Opening Chord: Peace Child symbol with title: PEACE DAY 2050 comes up on screen. A spotlight splits the darkness & picks out the figure of the Girl singer down stage Right. She comes forward and sings:

Girl: Come into my joy!

A second spotlight picks out the Boy singer, down stage Left:

Boy: Come into my pain!

They move towards each, other, reaching out and joining hands:

Girl: Come – you be a friend of mine!

Boy: I’ll be the same! (repeat x 2)

Girl: 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

Boy: 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 –

Girl & Boy: So give me Peace Enough, Peace Enough, Peace Enough!

So give me peace enough, for peace of mind

Everything’s coming up sunshine! (x2)

They come forward, clapping their hands as the house lights come up and the Chorus / Company dance in down the aisles, singing and greeting the audience:

Company: Come into my joy. Come into my pain.

Come you’ll be a friend of mine

I’ll be the same (x2)

The dancers process on to the stage and perform the spirited, upbeat Peace Day dance:

Company: (Majestic) Peace Day, Peace Day we all say

Happy world. Happy Day

Wear a leaf and show the way Celebrating this peace day

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 Celebrations have begun.

Celebrations, jubilations

Laughter shouting – join the fun!

Smiling 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.

(Ralentando) Come you’ll be a friend of mine.

I’ll be the same.

They hold a tableau for applause then turn and fall into each other’s arms, wishing each other:

ALL: Happy Peace Day! Happy Peace Day!!

Into this melee walks the Story-teller, a mystical figure in a long, colourful cloak. S/he stands unnoticed at the back of the throng, until one of the child members of the company notices him/her:

Child 1 Hey Look!! It’s the Story-teller!

They all stop and turn, amazed – happy! Then they all surround and greet him/her:

Company: Happy Peace Day! Happy Peace Day Story-teller!!

Storyteller Thank you, thank you – and Happy Peace Day to all of you! (They applaud!) Welcome to Peace Day 2056 here in Moscow!! So – can anyone tell me what Time is it?

Everyone consults their watches;

Company: (variously): ‘bout ten past seven-forty…. Yeah! 19.40 – just gone half-past seven…. Etc.

ST No – what TIME is it? – what stage in Human Development are we in right now? Is it the Stone Age?

Company: No!!

ST A Time of War?

Company: No!!

ST What Time then?

Marina: A Time of Peace!

Vanya: A Time of Collaboration!

Youth 3: A Time of Harmony between Humanity and the Environment!

Youth 4: Green Peace Time!

ST A good time to be alive then?

Youth 5: The Best! (All nod and cheer in agreement!)

Youth 6: Think back to your childhood, Storyteller: could you imagine a Palestinian football team beating Tel Aviv at a Cup Final in Eilat and being cheered by Israeli fans in Jerusalem?!

Youth 7: Or a world in which climate change is a distant memory.

Youth 8: Or one where they closed down the UN Refugee agency because there are no more refugees;

Youth 9: And the World Food programme!

Marina: Did they close that?

Youth 9: Yeah! No more hungry people!

ST That’s incredible, isn’t it. So – no more challenges for your generation?

Vanya: Oh sure!! School’s are still in deep trouble!

Youth 3: – and the Health Service is close to collapse

Youth 4: – and we’ve still got too many people driving around in stinky old petrol cars

Youth 5: And aeroplanes.

Youth 6: Youth unemployment is still way too high!

Youth 7: Too many jobs are done by robots and computers

Youth 8: And there’s way too many places where there’s not enough fresh water!

Youth 9: And the rich are still too rich –

Marina: – and the poor are still too poor

Vanya: Yeah! Inequality sucks.

ST Sounds tough!

Vanya: But nothing like as tough as what you guys had to sort out in the early part of the century.

Youth 3: I can’t believe that people of our age were actually told to go and fight and kill people!

ST That was what wars are all about!

Youth 4: What’s worth dying for?!

Youth 5: Thank God we have peace is all I say.

ST Thank God indeed. But people helped. My generation helped, didn’t we? You still want to hear the story of the Peace Child do you?!

Company (Uproariously) YES! – Please! Go on! – Let’s do it!!

Youth 6: We know all the parts!

Youth 7: And some of these guys won’t have seen it. (pointing at the younger children & audience)

Youth 8: They have to learn it like we did.

ST So – you really do all know all the lines?

Youth 7: We could do this story in our sleep!

ST So – let’s choose who’s going to play which part? We’ll do it in the old way, in a circle. That’s right! Give me the basket MUSIC

The cast kneel in a circle around the Story-teller. One of them hands him a basket full of coloured leaves with the character’s names on them. Quietly, they all sing as the Storyteller scatters the leaves – which they either catch or pick up from the floor.

SONG TWO: Now if you close your eyes

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Now if you close your eyes, you can be what you want, And if you close your mind, you can feel what you need –

Don’t you see, it’s your destiny –

Can’t you see, it was meant to be –

It’s happening everywhere!

People waking up!

Together facing a great new dawn –Reaching out for Love!

Do you believe in miracles?

– have faith in things unseen?

Take a good look around you now –– no, no! It’s not a dream.

So open up your eyes – and fly beyond the sky!

And open up your mind – you can feel beyond your dreams! Now open up your hands – you can touch the Universe!

Then put your hands in mine and behold: – a brand new world!

During the song, the Cast stand in a tableau with the Story-teller – holding hands. Fade to Black

Scene TWO: History Lesson: Year 0 to 2019:

The Storyteller takes a big, old Story book and sits on the downstage right corner of the stage, perhaps with some children from the audience on stage. The Storyteller opens the book and starts to read:

ST Once upon a Time, a long time ago –

When our Universe was young

Our world was a paradise made of love

According to a heavenly plan

Soon there came a light from the universe

As bright as bright could be –

Making Man out of dust and earth

And leaving him to Destiny.

A pattern soon emerged of things to come, And problems Man would face:

Tribes of men – not quite the same –

Would compete for food

And the best bit of land

Starting off the game called “War”

It began with a stone, then came a stick

Soon there was an axe and a spear

Then came a club, then an arrow – then a gun! –And bullets were flying everywhere!

Conflict raged all over the world

Hatred and envy in every land!

Tribe against tribe, man against man!

Nobody seemed to care!

With each generation passing by Men found new skills of war

Hydrogen and cluster bombs, Mercenaries and terrorists; Cold wars, dirty wars, Underground – overground

In the air – out in space!

WAR! – set out to kill the human race!

[MUSIC starts]

Dancers emerge, dressed as soldiers down the ages, with murderous intent. The music builds to the choral entry and the stage fills with marching people either side, with flags, banners and weapons of war.

SONG THREE: W A R

We’ll fight our way to distant hills, A bloody battle have

We’ll raise our sword and kill them all]

We’ll raise our countries flag!

We’ll kill our brothers, kill our friends, Kill each other till the end!

We’ll kill our women, children too, Kill them all until we’re through Kill them all until we’re through.

The Dancers kneel facing the audience. As a group, they raise their hands and faces in prayer, singing the Prayer:

God save our land, long live our flag,

On to the war we go – praise to our dead

But who says we’re right, who says we’re wrong Honour and pride – to this we belong!

The Battle – the soldiers fall on each other, murdering, maiming until all lie dead. Screams of pain, howls, wailing – then a massive drum roll crescendos into a roaring explosion, and the mushroom cloud appears on the screen. Bodies fly everywhere and writhe in pain, as the chorus, quietly sung: Oh come and save us! Oh come and save us!

Oh come and save us from what we do!

Our world is through!

The cast rise up, looking to the audience, moving down stage slowly, appealing: But who can save us! But who can save us?

But who can save us from what we do?

God – where are you?

The chorus hold their look a moment. A hail of machine gun fire; the chorus disintegrate in terror running from the stage through the audience or into the wings. Lights Fade to Black. Spotlight on the Storyteller and the younger children.

ST Where indeed?! But there was another war going on – the war between mankind and the environment. A war which mankind showed every sign of winning. A war that would destroy the very eco-systems that allowed humanity to live. But none of us knew much about it back then. It wasn’t the slightest bit important to us! We had other battles to fight!

Scene THREE: 2019 – The Story Begins:

Two girls, Nina and Nadia, walk across the stage dressed for a party. They pause, chatting:

Nina You didn’t?! Where??

Nadia At the park gate. It was the best kiss ever!

Nina You’re kidding me! Vanya?!

Nadia The very same!

Nina So – did you – when – did….?

Nadia No – nothing. Zhenya moved in on him after that – and I was out of the picture. But I’ll always have that one kiss….

Nina You lucky beast! Do you think he’ll like this top?

Nadia It’s fine! You look great in it.

Nina So – you think he might notice me?!

Nadia As much as if you put a big flashing light on your head saying: “I’m Available, Vanya!”

Nina Aww! You’re so lucky: you’ve got Yegor waiting for you – all dark and handsome with eyes only for you!

Nadia Mmmmm! I know. He is gorgeous, isn’t he?!

Nina I s’pose! For an Armenian low-life….

Nadia (slapping her playfully) – Let’s go do battle!!

They head up stage where the curtains open and a raucous disco party spills out with the whole cast getting down and dancing to latest disco beat – or live song. MUSIC

SONG FOUR: Party Song (to be chosen by Russian producers)

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

In the chaos of the party – we meet the characters of the Core Cast: Nadia, Nina and Zhenya – three attractive young women in their late teens; Vanya – an attractive football jock; Misha – a nerdy student; Yegor – a longhaired, dark, art student type and Sasha – a bearded serious philosopher type. In this party scene, we see a neatly choreographed changing of partners as Zhenya dances with Vanya – then hits on Yegor; Nina moves in on Vanya – who is impressed with her, and Nadia looks really pissed as Zhenya and Yegor dance in each other’s arms. The shy, spotty Misha taps Nadia on the shoulder and, reluctantly, she starts to dance with him. Meanwhile – the party rages on – people drinking and chatting at the side of the stage, having a great time! The dance number ends – Nina is in a deep embrace with Vanya. Nadia wants to go home:

Nadia C’mon, Nina! We’ve got Lectures tomorrow ….

Nina – waves her away, irritated. Her mind is only on kissing Vanya.

Misha (to Nadia) I’ll walk you to the bus….

Nadia looks at her friend jealously. Looks back at Misha.

Nadia (angry, but resigned) Oh – OK then!

They Exit BLACK OUT

Scene FOUR: 2019 – The AWAKENING:

The Storyteller comes forward into the spotlight – the background changing behind her to a picture of the earth from space:

ST So much the environment! We didn’t care! We were blissfully unaware that anything was going on – a hot war which, every day, was inflicting terrible damage on our World and destroying the very possibility of a future life for us and for our children. Out of sight – Out of mind – until the day one of our Professors insisted that we come to the main Lecture Hall of Moscow University to hear a speech by a woman we’d never heard of. Christiana Figueres! She’d been the UN’s leading coordinator for some big agreement on Climate Change. None of us really knew what to expect: but, as obedient students, we did what we were told – and went along.

As the Storyteller speaks, a lecturer who looks like Christiana Figueres comes on to the stage and speaks in English through the PA. The story-teller withdraws and the Lecturer’s voice takes over – as Climate Change slides come up behind her.

Lecturer: …. And as we can see, the Arctic Ice Cap has shrunk by over 1000% in area and volume in the last 30 years. In the United States, there are many who will tell you that Climate Change is not happening. Well it is – and here is the evidence.

On the PA, her voice fades down and the voice of a Russian translator takes over, explaining these slides: More slides come illustrating the dreadful things that will happen to the Planet: MUSIC Starts

Lecturer: (Translator) There is plenty of other evidence – more Hurricanes, more forest Fires like those in California which have increased massively in number as temperatures rise – more rain bombs like this one over Houston Texas which flooded the city with as much water in one day as flows over Niagara Falls in 3 days. And droughts – endless droughts which cost farmers billions and drove thousands to commit suicide, and millions off their lands and into the cities…..

Fade the lecturer’s voice; fade up the music of the Song – slides continuing in rhythm with the music – and the dancers acting out with movements that reflect the content of the lyric and the pictures.

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!

Can’t you see the tide is changing? Don’t you know that truth is fading? People coming out from under Slowly rising to the thunder

Listen to the shouting people Broken churches, broken steeple There’s no one for them to follow Every one’s a God tomorrow

Can’t you see the world is dying? Repentant people all are crying Law and order has been drowned Chaos rules and has been crowned!

World – look at the way we are Look at the things we do Look at the games we play Life! – look at the way we live Look at the things we build Look at the love we’ve killed

Gone, gone are all those lovely days Gone are all the peaceful ways (Diminuendo) All that’s left is old and grey (Diminuendo / ralentando) And our world is fading (Softly) Our world is dying – today!

Lecturer: …. So this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is our challenge: preventing this – from becoming this. Or rather it’s your challenge – your generational challenge. Our generation has analysed the problem. We’ve created the technologies that can solve the problem and, in the Paris Agreement, we have created the framework of a political agreement that can drive forward the solutions. But it is your generation which is going to have to take the driver’s seat –because, right now, there is a vacancy. No one is pushing it. So – are you up for it?

Audience Yes (weakly)

Lecturer I’m not convinced. Are you up for it?!

Audience Yes! (Slightly stronger)

Lecturer One more time: ARE YOU UP FOR IT?!!

Audience YES!!

Lecturer That’s better. Thank you! Any questions??

Marina Thank you. Thank you very much. I knew nothing about this – and now you’ve got my attention. So – what do you want us to do to ‘rise to our generational challenge?’

Lecturer Simple: show these slides to everyone. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Make them feel that it’s as important as you and I do.

Marina Raise awareness. I thought you’d say that. It’s important, yes – but it’s not going to change any one’s mind politically, is it?

Vanya I mean – you were the head of the UN Climate Agency – and if you can’t force those changes, how on earth is a bunch of kids like us supposed to do it?

Nina We wouldn’t know where to start!

Marina In Russia, we trust our government to get decisions like this right….

Vanya There’s nothing kids can do about climate change….

Lecturer There’s plenty you can do! In your lifestyles – become vegetarian; recycle – don’t fly or use the cars too much. Walk, bicycle, take a train. And you can do as I say: tell people to do the same as you. To live sustainable lifestyles.

Vanya But – if this climate crisis is so serious, we want to do more than that, don’t we!?

All YES!

Lecturer Thank you. Thank you for your concern – and for your questions. I don’t know what the situation is here in Russia – but I know what my choice has been, ever since I first learned about the problem. I have taken a decision to devote every hour of the days I have left on this earth – to give my life – to solve this problem. And to you, I make the same request: Give your life. Thank you….

They applaud. And Stand up – applauding loudly. And the Lecturer bows, and takes her leave. The young people all cluster round Marina – who is a very bright, attractive young woman.

Vanya Great question!

All Yeah! – well done; good job! etc.

Marina (Challenging them) So – are you?

Vanya Are we what?

Marina Going to give your lives?

Vanya I don’t know. Are you?

Marina I’m thinking about it. I’d like to talk about it.

Vanya So would I.

Zhenya So would I

All Yeah – me too! Let’s do it.

Marina So – let’s talk. She doesn’t know Russia. We do! There’s got to be something that we can do to show leadership on this issue

Nadia Right! Starting, as she says, with finding out more about it!

Zhenya Yeah! Why didn’t we get more lessons about this in school?!

Misha It’s all there on the web if you want to find out.

Yegor It’s all so scary!

Sasha Too scary for kids to worry their pretty little heads about!`

Marina But – it isn’t just scary: like she said, so much of the new technology is really exciting!

Vanya We have to get our heads around this. This is our future.

Misha But Russia’s prosperity depends almost entirely on oil.

Marina For now! Our future depends on us becoming a world leader in building the green economy!

Yegor That’s our challenge, guys: what are we going to do with our lives to change all that?

Nina I have NO clue!

Zhenya So let’s get down to the café and talk about it right now! They EXIT Drum Roll

Scene FIVE: 2019 – What we gonna do?

Music begins – the powerful introduction to “I who am I?” Sasha & Marina come forward and sing:

SONG SIX: I WHO AM I ?

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

I who am I? What is this world

Why am I here?

I what am I? What is my cause? Why 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?

Vanya I, who am I, what is this place? Why am I here?

As the song ends, the soloists bow and go back around the stage to join the group of Youth as they come forward, carrying chairs and a table, led by an old professor. They set up the chairs and table as though in a small bar or café, and sit down chatting – sipping their beers or coffee:

Yegor What is a “generational challenge” anyway?

Professor Well – for some generations, it was winning a war against fascism; for others – it was building an empire; for others – creating an industrial revolution. For your generation, she’s probably right: saving the world from catastrophic climate change by building a green, sustainable economy is probably your main generational challenge!

Zhenya But how on earth do we do that – ?

Misha – in a country where 48.5% of our exports are petroleum products?

Professor That figure is reducing. Other exports are rising much faster than oil and gas.

Nadia I heard that the Gulf States are reducing their dependency on oil exports

Misha Yeah right: the Emirates used to be just about 100% dependent on oil. Now that’s down to less than 3%.

Professor It’s going to take a while for Russia to reduce its dependency that far.

Vanya There are so many jobs in petroleum – extraction, sales, refining. It’s a huge part of our economy.

Nina I read that, in Germany, there are more people working in the Green Economy than making cars!

Zhenya What is a “green economy”?

Prof/Yth 1 Renewables… you go! / No you…

Sasha It’s every human activity that conserves, heals and enriches the natural environment while fulfilling human needs.

Marina Sustainable development, right?

Vanya Right – building windmills

Nadya Hydrogen fuel cells!

Yegor Solar parks!

Misha Internet and cloud-based service companies

Professor You’re right. All right. And it’s true – far more jobs will be created by a Green Economy than were ever created by the brown, fossil-fuelled economy. And much more wealth! The billionaires of your lifetimes will be the people that lead the creation of a green economy.

Sasha Not here in Russia! Germany – China – they’re way ahead of us

Marina And the USA: President Trump may have pulled out of the Paris Climate agreement, but all over the USA, there are people and companies building solar cities, electric cars, hyperloop trains – they know the way the wind is blowing.

Nadia Scandinavia leads on a lot of this stuff too…

Professor But it all started in Russia! You know who Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was?

All Of course!

Professor Well – he is often called the “Father of Sustainability” – because, as a scientist, he took the thinking of Teilhard de Chardin about human consciousness and the Noosphere – and linked it to the biochemistry of evolution. In simple terms, that is sustainable living – not drawing down the natural capital of our planet and leaving nothing for future generations to live on.

Zhenya And that’s the mistake that previous generations have been making?!

Sasha Thinking that the earth’s resources were infinite!

Vanya And that we could merrily plunder them for ever!

Marina With no thought for tomorrow!

Vanya That’s what we have to change!

Zhenya But how? That’s the only lifestyle most of us know!

Professor It’s a change of mindset that we need. Instead of “Me – Me – Me! / Now – Now – Now!” – we need to think of the future! The leadership that our country can give to the world now that leads us all towards a sustainable future.

Nina Like Vernadsky did?

Professor Exactly!

Marina Russia’s the world’s biggest country by land mass –

Yegor – by a wide margin, isn’t it?

Misha Yes – the next biggest is Canada, and we’re double the size of that.

Vanya So we should be the biggest contributor to the creation of a green economy, right?

All Yeah!

Marina We should lead the building of it!

All Right!

Zhenya I think I know exactly where to start….

They run off – taking the café tables and chairs with them. Black Out.

Scene SIX: In the Office of the Promoter

They drag on a huge desk – behind which sits the elderly character of the Promoter. The kids are shown in by an attractive secretary. They are very nervous in the presence of the great man!

Zhenya It’s so kind of you to see us1

Promoter It’s my job to see new talent. Why wouldn’t I see you?! How can I help?

Sasha Well –

Vanya Our world is dying!

Marina And we want to save it!

Promoter And – ?

Misha You see – it’s all about Climate Change –

Nadia It’s killing our Planet

Yegor But we knew nothing about it

Nina Because our teachers didn’t want to worry our pretty little heads about it!

Sasha But we think we should know about it

Zhenya All the kids – in every country in the world!

Marina And Russia should be leading the building of the Green Economy

Misha Because Vernadsky was Russian!

Promoter Vernadsky?! –

All Yes!

Promoter Climate – Green Economy?! What the hell are you talking about?! I thought you were going to sing me a song!!

Yegor (hurrying to the piano) We are – we are !

Sasha We wrote you a whole song – all about it!

Zhenya Because we want you to do it?

Promoter What?!

Marina A Rock Festival

Vanya A Festival for our Future

Nina A Festival to save our world!

Yegor starts to play – and the kids come forward, singing:

SONG SEVEN: We want this world to survive for ever

SCORE VIDEO ( – go to end) AUDIO 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…. etc.

Let’s join our hands together

Let’s make peace throughout our world!

The Promoter waits while the applause dies down. He lets the silence settle – then he stands and claps slowly, walking around the kids – looking at them very seriously:

Promoter So you want me to put together a Rock Festival to raise awareness around the world of the problem of climate change?!

Kids Yes!

Promoter Streamed globally – with top rock stars from around the world?!

Vanya Exactly!

Promoter “Rock for the Future!”

Zhenya You got it!

Promoter I like it! I’ll do it!!

The kids are stunned.

Marina You’ll do it?!

Promoter Yes.

Nina That’s amazing!

Nadia Incredible!!

Slowly the realization dawns on the Kids. A slow “Whoop” starts with Nadia – and spreads as they all jump for joy. The Promoter stands back – watching happily at the pleasure he has created.

Marina (to the promoter) Thank you!

Storyteller Interlude

A spotlight comes up on the Storyteller downstage right as s/he explains to the children:

Storyteller So – two months later, the Olympic Stadium in Moscow was filled to the rafters with screaming crowds, all eager to hear their favourite rock groups – and to learn about the threats to the future.

Child What about the Kids?

Storyteller They were the hosts! – watch….

Scene SEVEN: 2019 – “Rock for the Future”

On the screen behind, a large Banner is being erected saying “Rock for the Future” – music starts and the band comes on stage as though playing at an open air rock concert. The company watch from the side as they sing:

SONG EIGHT: Contemporary Russian Rock song SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

As the song ends, four of the Kids come forward to speak to the Crowd

Zhenya Thank you! Thank you so much! Who ever would have thought we’d fill the Luzhniki Stadium for a Concert about Climate Change? – and have 30 million people watching around the world on TV. This is as good as the World Cup!!

Misha Climate Change has been good to Russia! It’s opened up the Transpolar Sea Route – the TSR – which will bring billions to our economy!

Nadia It’s melted the permafrost opening up millions of acres for farming and cultivation; Sasha And it’s enabled year round fishing and fish-farming in seas that were previously closed to us!

Zhenya But it’s not all good news!

Nadia As sea levels rise, cities like St Petersburg will need massive sea walls just to stay alive. And the cities servicing the TSR shipping lanes may also suffer…

Misha But the biggest danger is that global warming will melt the Himalayan Ice fields which feed the seven great rivers of South Asia – and feed over 2 billion people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and IndoChina.

Sasha When those rivers dry up – as they surely will some time in the future – 2 billion people will be forced to move. And there’s only one place for them to go….

Misha North. To Russia.

Nadia To the vast empty spaces of Siberia.

Zhenya And when they arrive, we must be ready for them. Russia must be ready for the biggest migration the world has ever seen. And when they arrive – we want them to be HAPPY!

The Band strikes up and sing – as the entire company does a spectacular dance number!

SONG NINE: We want you to be happy now / Mwi zhelayem schastya vam

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Mwi zhelayem shastya vam

Shastya vetom meeryeh balshom

Kak sontse pa ootram

Poost anaw za khaw deet vdawm

Mwi zhelayem shastya vam

Ee anaw dolzhnaw bweet takeem

Kawg da twee shastleev sam

Shastya paw delee zdroo geem!

The 4 x other kids come forward, breathless, acknowledging the applause, waving – Happy! They then become very earnest as they communicate their newly-discovered knowledge:

Marina Ladies and gentlemen: we need your help to rise to the biggest challenge our country – and our world! – has ever faced.

Vanya Our country has one of the biggest oil and gas reserves in the world!

Nina And it would be so simple if we could just use all that up – build a green economy based on renewable energy using it, and then transition to 100% renewables once it’s all gone!

Yegor Yes – but the bitch of it is – if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change, we – and the rest of the world – have to NOT use 80% of what we’ve found.

Nina But half the world’s economy is based on oil and gas!

Vanya It’s what’s made Russia rich!

Marina So today, we’re rocking for the future! And that future has got to be green – if there’s going to be any future for our generation – and any future generations.

Yegor We’ve got to do this thing guys! The old guys will help us – and they’ve done a lot of the ground work. But they’ll all be dead before this shit hits the fan – and it will be us, and our children and grand-children who will have to make the Green Economy happen.

Vanya (reflective) It’s a daunting task, my friends: but we want to join with our friends around the world – in every country! – One World in Freedom working together, not for ourselves, but for our future. For the future of our entire human family.

Marina I’m from the very far East of this country – 11 time zones away. My family is watching this over their breakfast! And yet I know that, on this, we, and all the young people of the world, are united. In Eastern Siberia, we have a rich history and culture and, if I think of the generational challenges faced by my ancestors just to stay alive, and bring me into the world – I know that we can, all of us together, rise to this challenge. And achieve it. In friendship

SONG TEN: Siberian Folk Song

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

One solo dancer expresses the mood of the song through the first two verses. Then it grows and grows, involving more singers, building to a spectacular climax.

Scene EIGHT: Intercontinental TV Talk Show

In English – a voice comes over the Tannoy: “Looks Great! We’re ready – Let’s GO! 4 – 3 – 2 – 1!” Music starts –Lights come up on a TV Studio with Cameras downstage right and left and an empty stage in the middle. The Company come on dressed in sharp suits, as oil executives. They do a vibrant up-beat dance number, with images of oil refineries and oil infrastructure behind them:

SONG ELEVEN: Military Industrial / Petroleum Energy Complex

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

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 –When 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!

Because – unless in your schools

You live by the rules

And do what you’re told You’ll never win the gold!!!

You broke the generational contract!

Get back to your schools – start obeying those rules!

We’re out here trying to make you some money

Where the money all goes – Nobody knows!

Get back to your schools and get learning

If the money is made – you’ll make your grades! Your mums and your dads and your teachers

Want success for you now – so don’t make a row!!

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!

Because – unless in your schools

You live by the rules

And do what you’re told

You’ll never win the gold!!!

Chuck (The Oilman walks on – clapping them) Thanks a lot, guys! Well done! That’ll show ‘em! Kids! And climate change! What a pain in the ass! BLACK OUT

Storyteller Interlude

A spotlight comes up on the Storyteller and a small group of children:

Child What did he say?

ST Just that his whole company is not a big fan of climate change! Or kids! Because – if what the kids were saying was true – the Oil Companies risked going out of business. So – they were understandably angry! The Kids had become such big media celebrities because of the concert, TV stations were keen to put them up against these oil company executives so they could get a nice fight going between them.

Scene EIGHT: Intercontinental TV Talk Show: (contd.)

In the Black-out, they bring on three chairs and a coffee table. As the lights come up, Marina and Vanya come on and sit in the chairs with an older Chat Show Host. Logo of a famous Russian chat show is projected on the screen. The host introduces the show and they talk – in Russian:

Host Welcome to the <<-??->> show where tonight we welcome the hosts of the Rock for the Future concert!

APPLAUSE! Prompt flashes on the Screen. Marina and Vanya acknowledge

Host So – what drove you to do the Concert?

Marina Climate change is our biggest generational challenge!

Vanya So we thought that our generation should be aware of it.

Marina Not as a classroom – schooly thing but as something fun, something sexy

Vanya Something full of opportunities.

Host Well we’ll be joined in a moment by our friends in America who gave us that song which introduced our show, and I think they’ll disagree with that assessment. But what has been the reaction since? What kind of audience response have you had?

Marina Overwhelming!

Vanya You’ve seen yourself – the social media traffic: over a million hits from Russians alone!

Marina And the comments – 99% supportive and wanting to help

Vanya I think we’ve created a million vegetarians overnight!

Marina But outside Russia too: we’ve logged about a hundred thousand comments from about 130 countries since the Concert. The people of the world are right behind us on this issue.

Vanya The world is looking to Russia for leadership on all this

Marina It’s a great feeling!

Host I can imagine. But, as you know, there are many in the multi-national oil and coal industry who think that you are seriously misguided. So let me introduce now Chuck Hazard, CEO of the World Oil & Coal Consortium who joins us via the magic of our new voice translation

system from Houston. Let me ask you first, Chuck – what are your thoughts on Climate Change?

Chuck (On the screen – speaking in English, but we hear him in Russian) Well – it’s a bunch of hogwash, isn’t it? There’s absolutely zero scientific proof that the changes we are seeing in the climate is being caused by the Oil Industry. The climate changes naturally all the time!

Vanya 99% of the world’s top scientists would disagree with you.

Chuck Well I don’t know who’s paying those scientists to say that, but I know what my scientists tell me, and its 100% convincing.

Marina Well – we all know who’s paying them!

Host Fair Point, but you’re never going to agree on the science. So if we accept that something’s happening – what would you like Chuck and his friends to do?

Vanya Stop digging coal. Stop drilling for oil!

Marina Come with us to all the world’s major capitals – and lobby governments to levy massive taxes on fossil fuels – and support and subsidise the building of a Green Economy in every country, based on renewable energy.

Vanya We have the technology! We just need governments to legislate for it – and company’s like those Chuck represents to make it.

Host What do you say to that, Chuck?

Chuck I say to you kids, GET REAL! Fossil fuels are cheap and abundant!

Marina No they’re not!

Vanya They’re going to be all run out in 20 years!

Chuck That’s NONSENSE! We’ve got enough oil and coal to last us at least a thousand years, maybe longer! And it’s cheap and its plentiful – and it drives our cars and our industries, warms our homes in winter and keeps them cool in Summer. Can you imagine what would happen in the markets if we suddenly said we were not going to mine our existing reserves but leave them in the ground because some silly kids were worried about Climate Change?! It could cause total meltdown in the markets! You could kiss goodbye to all the profits we make for your pension funds! It would decimate industry and agriculture. It’d be the end of the world as we know it!

Marina It will be the end of the world as we know it when we lose trillions of dollars-worth of coastal real estate to sea-level rise –

Vanya – and billions of dollars every year due damage by hurricanes and extreme weather.

Marina Not to mention food and fresh-water losses

Vanya And ocean acidification.

Chuck You kids have no idea what you’re talking about!

Marina I’m sorry, sir! We know exactly what we’re talking about

Vanya – and you don’t want to talk about it because the only people you’re talking to are the people whose profits are paying your salary?!

Marina Whose profits are destroying our planet – and Our Future!

Host You’re very aggressive!

Vanya We care about our future! We’ve got to live in it – you won’t!

Marina You’ll be dead! But we didn’t come here to argue with Chuck: right now, all we want is for him to stop being part of the problem and become a big part of the solution.

Chuck How do I become ‘Big part of the solution’?

Vanya By shifting your business into non-carbon, renewable energy.

Host What do you say to that Chuck?

Chuck 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.

Marina I don’t think that’s true.

Vanya The Danish and German wind industries have consistently been posting higher returns on their renewable investments compared to that of the oil and coal companies.

Chuck I’m not German or Danish: with the tax system we have in this great country – I can make more money mining oil than covering the scenery with hideous windmills.

Host So – the problem is with the US tax system?

Marina Exactly! The US and many other governments are so completely bought and paid for by the big corporations like the ones that Chuck represents, they cannot possibly do the right thing!

Vanya Unless, Chuck, you come and help us! The Green Economy will create millions of jobs – will conserve the fisheries, improve agriculture, enrich communities, help eradicate poverty. And you can be a pioneer of that Green Economy – and be a hero.

Marina Not a dinosaur…

Chuck And how exactly do I change from dinosaur to hero?

Vanya Join us! Help us! Kids can’t build the infrastructure of a Green Economy. Only big companies can do that. And, with your help, we can work out a tax and subsidy regime that makes it more profitable for your company to invest in the green economy rather than in the old, brown polluting economy!

Chuck I can’t do that!

Vanya You can!

Host He’s never going to do that!

Chuck You’re Mad!

Marina No, Chuck! Extremely sane. If you’d said a century ago: “We’re not going to invest in roads and cars – because Railways and Canals are what we’ve always done…” – you’d be bankrupt. Same with energy now! All the smart people are already 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.

Vanya Chuck, I hear your new wife just gave you a baby daughter. Flossie!

Chuck Ah, Flossie – she’ll be the death of me!

Marina No, Chuck! You’ll be the death of Flossie unless you change what you’re doing here.

Chuck That’s not fair!

Host – don’t be offensive, guys.

Vanya It is true, Chuck – and you know it! 99% of the world’s scientists are not wrong!

Marina It’s like you’re putting a gun to her pretty little head and squeezing the trigger…

Vanya But – you don’t have to! Instead of being the bad guy in all this, you could be the Hero, leading the way to a bright, sustainable future!

Marina Clean, sustainable energy – warming the homes of your nation and our’s for generations.

Vanya Bringing us prosperity we can live with – not profits that will kill us all.

Marina Come on, Chuck! You know it makes sense!

Chuck I don’t know what to say?

Vanya Say Yes! – Yes to Life! Say “Yes!” to your daughter’s Future!

Marina No to poverty, pollution, desolation and death! No to the end of the world as we know it!

Host How are you guys so certain? You’re just kids! I wasn’t that certain about anything when I was your age?

Vanya Look at this: [The Arctic circle slides flash up on the screen] The Arctic ice-cap in 1980 – and the Arctic ice-cap now.

Marina That’s not some ice-eating bug, munching away the Ice-cap. That’s global warming.

Vanya We can’t reverse that – and may be the TSR will be good for Russia, and good for the world.

Marina But that’s not the point here

Host What is the point?

Vanya The point is: we’ve got to start building a worldwide energy grid NOW!

Marina Providing renewable energy to every home and factory in the world – 24/7!

Vanya – bringing energy from places where sun and wind are plentiful, like in the desert – to places where we need it.

Marina And when we’ve done that – we’ve got to build a worldwide water grid bringing fresh water from places that are flooded to places where there are droughts!

Vanya Those are HUGE infrastructure projects?

Marina Projects that only companies like the ones Chuck represents can do! And it will make them immense profits – which they will richly deserve because they will be saving humanity.

Vanya Surely that makes business sense, doesn’t it Chuck?

Host Makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you, Chuck?!

Chuck [firmly, decisively] No. It doesn’t and it never will! Because I believe my scientists, not your’s. And even if I was able to persuade my government that you’re right, there’s no way we would persuade all governments to change. The Saudis, the Chinese – Venezuela?! They’ll never agree. And unless we all do, none of us can! Believe me – I see where you’re coming from, and a big part of me admires you and wants to help you! But I can’t. And 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 transitioning to Green Energy. They’d sack me in a heartbeat – and then I’d be no use to you! Sorry kids!

Host Well that about wraps it up for this evening. I hope you’ve enjoyed this as much as I have! I’m tempted to give a points victory to the kids – because I think you touched the heart of an oilman, didn’t they Chuck!

Chuck I love kids so of course they touched me! But they didn’t change my mind…

Vanya We will, sir, we will!

Marina Give us time!

Host Thank you all – and thank you for watching. Good night and Good Luck!! Black Out

Scene NINE: In the Green Room

The lights come up – and a table is set up with soft drinks. The Host and Marina & 2 com in and help themselves to glasses of water. They talk about the show.

Host You know – I think you might have turned him!

Marina Thank you! We certainly threw everything at him.

Host Well – like I said, a points victory if not a knock-out punch. So what’s next?

Vanya We’ve got a ton of social media to sort through!

Marina Everyone wants us to do everything!

Vanya Tomorrow!

Host Well my producer had a suggestion: she’d like you to come with me to the next Climate Change Conference of the Parties – be a part of the talent team.

Marina Are you serious?!

Host Not sure – but if you’re up for it, I’ll try to push it through. You’re a good team. If the ratings from tonight are as good as I think they will be, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Vanya Show us where to sign!

Host So – you’d be up for it? It wouldn’t get in the way of exams or anything…?

Marina The Hell with exams!

Vanya This is our life’s work! We have to do it!

Marina Just one question: how does that translation thing work?

Host It’s a new thing – sort of Google Translate, but with real-time voice translation.

Marina Does it do other languages?

Host Of course! Do you want to see?

Vanya Please.

Host (Speaking into his lapel mike) Control Room: can you give me playback in Japanese. (The screen flickers – and then comes back to the Chat Show, with the voice track in Japanese). Try Swahili?! (the chat show continues in Swahili.) Portuguese? (He looks at them, listening on his ear piece) European or Brazilian?

Marina Brazilian! (It continues in Portuguese) That’s brilliant!

Vanya Can we get that show out online to our Social Media network around the world – with the translation widget attached??

Host I’ll see what can be arranged.

Marina Thank you! Thank you very much

Host My pleasure. You’re doing great work! Good luck!! They Exit

Story Teller Interlude:

The Storyteller comes forward with the group of younger children. S/he reads from the Storybook as behind him/her – images of a big UN COP meeting, with huge conference rooms, panel speakers, vast audiences –and the Kids, talking in corridors, holding microphones in people’s faces, sitting in make-shift studios, interviewing important-looking people, asking questions at Press Conferences etc.:

ST The host was as good as his word. Five of them travelled to <<-??->> for the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Paris Climate Change Accords. It was the team’s first experience of a big UN meeting – thousands of people, chattering away – mostly in English, about obscure bits of language and science that didn’t seem to bear any relationship to the reality that Christiana Figueres had explained in such simple, direct terms. But the Kids were celebrities amongst the non-government delegates – especially amongst the youth delegates, all of whom had seen their programme in their own language on social media. They looked to them for leadership – which they were eager to give, but – since their English wasn’t very good, they found themselves floundering.

Marina (coming on with Vanya) Job ONE: Learn better English!

ST Speaking through translators, they made a big impression – and because they were getting youth leaders from around the world, and rockstars interviewed on Russian Television –they found themselves immensely popular. At the end, no one was quite sure what had been agreed. But everyone was very jolly – and waved “Goodbye” saying: “See you next year!” Back home, the team started thinking:

Scene ELEVEN: The Café:

The Storyteller and the younger children withdraw as the Company take centre stage

Misha Did any of that achieve anything?

Zhenya Is that the best way to get the change we need?

Marina I don’t think so….

Vanya I absolutely KNOW it’s not so….

Nina So – what are we going to do?

Nadia Hey! It’s Christmas! We’re on holiday. Let’s think about it over the holiday, put together a list of ideas – and meet again in January to figure it out.

Yegor You mean like another Rock for the Future?

Sasha Not that again!

Zhenya That was soooo much work!

Nina Whatever we do, it’s going to be hard work.

Vanya But that’s what we’re here for. That’s our generational challenge – to do the heavy-lifting!

Sasha We can do it!

Zhenya ‘Course we can! Happy Christmas everyone! Black Out

Scene TWELVE: Vanya at Home

The lights come up on a domestic scene. A table is laid for a Christmas dinner – and the company dress up as family members. The old father sits and strums a balalaika, singing a Siberian folk song as his wife brings in the traditional Christmas dinner, followed by two younger children, Katya and Volodya, and their elder brother: Vanya. The song ends, they sit down, thank God for the food – and start eating.

Mother We are all so proud of you, Vanya. Already you’re more famous than we’ll ever be!

Father (to his younger children) – You must follow his example: work hard, pass your exams – and get to the University in Moscow!

Vanya – or St Petersburg, or Kazan, or Ekaterinberg. They’re all very good!

Mother But you got a scholarship to the best! (to the younger children) – and he worked very hard for it. No time-wasting on computer games…

Vanya C’mon, Mum! I wasn’t perfect! I got told to leave two of my schools….

Father That’s because you were too good for them, my boy! You showed up the others for how rubbish they were!

Volodya Was it fun being on TV?

Vanya It was terrifying, actually!

Katya But it must have been fun going on the big airplane!?

Volodya I’ve never been on an airplane!

Vanya It’s not good to travel too much: you should only go on an airplane if you absolutely have to! Otherwise it’s better to cycle or go by train.

Father It’s all good experience for you – and I hope good fun. But next year, you must knuckle down, work hard and get a good degree. Then I want you to go get some experience working for some of our competitors – before you come back and take over the family business – at a salary much higher than mine!

Vanya You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you Dad: but you know I could never in a million years work for your company. You mine and sell coal, for God’s sake! And that’s killing the environment. I could never do that! If you force me to work for your company – I would force you to close it down.

Mother Don’t you dare talk like that to your father!

Vanya But it’s true, Mum! You know I love you both more than life itself – and I’m incredibly grateful for all the sacrifices you’ve made to allow me to go to University. But at university, I have learned about what we’re doing to our future. And that big Concert I did was all about closing down companies like Dad’s!

Father My son – if you have a family, as I hope you will, your duty, like mine, will be to put food on the family table.

Vanya I will, Dad, but there are million other ways of doing that which do NOT involve killing the planet!

Father My company is NOT killing the planet!! Who’s been putting these wicked ideas in your head?

Mother It’s that girl, isn’t it – the Mongolian one from the East?

Vanya She’s part of the team, yes! But we all feel that way…

Katya Are you in love with her?

Vanya I think I am – a little. Rather a lot, actually!

Father Get rid of her! Get rid of ALL of them!! They’re a bad influence on your. They’ll get you all thrown out! This country’s success is based on its oil and coal. No one’s going to be successful if they try to close it down.

Vanya We have to, Dad! That’s the challenge facing our generation. To build renewable energy systems to replace the one’s you built?

Father But – if there’s nothing wrong with our system, why waste time and money changing it?!

Vanya Because everything’s wrong with it, Dad. Everything!

Mother They have some funny ideas out East

Father Choose a local girl, my son: one who shares our values and our culture…

Vanya Dad: you may decide many things in my life, but NOT who I marry. (To the younger children) You must not let him push you around. And when I’m not here, always remember that I’m out there not larking about on big planes and TV for the fun of it: I am working for YOU! For your future!! We have to change the way we do things as a human family – the way we generate our energy, the way we grow our food, the way we do our politics so that we have peace with other neighbours. You do understand that, don’t you? (They nod –music starts. He gets up and moves to the side of the stage as his father starts to sing)

SONG TWELVE: Father & Son

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Father: It’s not time to make a change

Just relax, take it easy

You’re still young, that’s your fault

There’s so much you have to know

Find a girl, settle down

If you want you can marry

Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy

I was once like you are now, and I know that it’s not easy

To be calm when you’ve found something going on

But take your time, think a lot

Why, think of everything you’ve got

For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not

Vanya:

Father:

Vanya:

How can I try to explain, cause when I do he turns away again

It’s always been the same, same old story

From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen

Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away

I know - I have to go

It’s not time to make a change

Just sit down, take it slowly

You’re still young, that’s your fault

There’s so much you have to go through

Find a girl, settle down

If you want you can marry

Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy

All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside

It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it

If they were right, I’d agree, but it’s them they know not me

Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away

I know - I have to go

Vanya EXITS – watched sadly by his family.

Slow FADE to Black-out

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Scene THIRTEEN: At the Café:

The Company come on with chairs and tables – to set up the same café as Scene FOUR. They greet each other with hi-fives, and whoops of glee!

Vanya Hey! Happy New Year!

Company (to each other) Happy New Years!

Yegor So – how we all doin’?!

Nina Don’t ask!

Nadia My family think I’m quite mad!

Zhenya Mine too

Vanya It’s tough work being a celebrity but some one’s got to do it!

Marina Did any one do the analysis of the Social Media over Christmas?

Misha We did!

Nadia About 14,800 requests to us to come speak at Russian Schools, Universities and community groups and 3,782 requests from foreign schools, universities and community groups.

Misha And some of whom are willing to pay us – IF – we can do our presentations in English….

Vanya Do we have to bother about that if we have the TV company’s translation gizmo?

Zhenya We should. You speak pretty good English, don’t you?

Vanya Not as good as her!

Marina I vote we split up the work and get back to as many of them as we can

Nina Especially the international ones!

Sasha Was there ever a time when so many people wanted to hear from Russians!

Nadia Not since Pussy Riot! (They laugh!)

Vanya But what are we telling them?

Sasha Yeah! What’s the gig?

Marina It has to be a message of Hope!

Yegor Accentuate the positive!

Zhenya Sure – but remember what got our attention was being scared shitless by that woman!

Sasha Yeah – we must make them aware of the dangers!

Marina I agree – but then our goal is to get them really, really excited about the challenge our generation has to rise to with the building of the green economy….

Nina – and how much money we’re all going to make from it!

Nina offers a hi-five, and they move into a huddle round the table, chatting – as a spotlight comes up on one who starts to sing:

SONG THIRTEEN: PEACE TRAIN

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Now I’ve been happy lately, Thinking about the good things to come And I believe it could be, Something good has begun

Oh we’ve been smiling lately, Dreaming about the world as one And we believe it could be, Some day it’s going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, There rides a peace train

Oh peace train take this country, Come take me home again

Lights come back on the Café table where the kids talk –

Vanya You mean an International Tour?

Zhenya Yeah – with Rock ‘n Roll

Marina Let’s take Rock the Future on the Road!

Company Yeah! – brilliant! Love it! Let’s do it!

Sasha But what about our exams?

Nina We’ll delay them for a year

Nadia And who’ll pay for it all?

Zhenya We’ll find sponsors!

Misha If they want us, let them find sponsors: this could be good business!

Sasha But a lot of these requests are from Low Income Countries

Nadia They could never sponsor us!

Misha And we really need to reach out to them

Marina So let’s put together a budget

Vanya – get some great bands together!

Nina And put this show on the road! (They turn and start to sing / dance!)

SONG THIRTEEN: PEACE TRAIN (contd.)

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Get your bags together, Go bring your good friends too Cause it’s getting nearer, It soon will be with you

Now come and join the living, It’s not so far from you And it’s getting nearer, Soon it will all be true

Cause out on the edge of darkness,

There rides a peace train

Oh peace train take this country, Come take me home again

Storyteller Interlude

The Storyteller comes forward as the dancers pull to the back of the stage. The music continues under and slides come up on the screen – showing the places the Storyteller describes:

Storyteller The first stop on the Peace Train ‘Rock the Future’ tour was China!! – home to the fastest growing economy the world has ever seen, and home to some of the most amazing efforts to build a green, sustainable economy….

Scene FOURTEEN – Rock the Future World Tour:

Two of the Company put on Chinese tunics and play the Chinese student Hosts to the Russian visitors. Images on the screen of the Shanghai Skyline mix across to the Forbidden City to the Great Wall to massive freeways and Beijing Airport. Music evokes the culture of China.

Misha (Looking about in wonder!) Wow!

Zhenya It looks like America – only cleaner!

Sasha And check out the motor scooters: are they electric!?

China 1 Sure – we’ve been running electric motor scooters for twenty years now: I cannot understand why they have not caught on in other Countries?

Vanya ‘Cos we couldn’t live in Moscow without the smell of smoke in the air!

China 2 China is building more Eco-Cities than anywhere else in the world!

Marina And are they all totally zero-carbon?

China 1 Yes! China believes deeply in green economy – we are building cheapest solar voltaic sheets and wind turbines in the world.

China 2 And our 5-year plan sees 100,000 electric cars on the roads by 2020 – more than the rest of the world put together.

Yegor But you’re still opening a new brown coal power station every week?

China 1 Not so much now – and it will get less

China 2 We still have many millions people living in bad poverty in West of China!

China 1 A green economy must continue the work to eradicate their poverty.

Nadia And you think you can eradicate poverty and build a sustainable, green economy at the same time?

China 2 That’s why we build so many Eco-cities – right across the country.

Nina That’s great!

China 1 You like? By 2050 – we have a thousand zero carbon cities – like this one.

China 2 With vertical farms on every corner.

Sasha Sweet!

Marina You plan to grow food right in city centres?

China 1 It is more efficient, yes!

China 2 Farm above – food shopping on the ground floor

Vanya Total integration. Brilliant

Marina The world must learn from you!

China 1 We are happy to share our experience – good and bad – with all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Group.

Zhenya What’s the Shanghai Cooperation Group?

Marina India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh – most of South Asia….

Misha That’s half the world’s population right there.

China 1 & 2 Yes, yes!

Nadia So, when we get them to go zero carbon, that’s the climate change battle half won!

They hi-five each other, and their Chinese Hosts take off their Chinese tunics, and turn and start to sing / dance with the others:

SONG THIRTEEN: PEACE TRAIN (contd.)

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Now I’ve been smiling lately, Thinking about the good things to come And I believe it could be, Something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder

Glide on the peace train

Come on now peace train

Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train

Come on now peace train

Storyteller Interlude:

The company scatter back to the wings, as the Storyteller comes forward:

Storyteller Next Stop, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates where they were holding a massive World Expo on the theme: “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” – with showcases on Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. Dubai had just opened the amazing “Museum of the Future” – designed to be a “an incubator for ideas and a driver for innovation.” It’s silver loop construction provided a perfect backdrop for a Russian Rock the Future Concert:

Scene FOURTEEN –

Rock the Future World Tour – Dubai: (contd.)

The gleaming backdrop of the egg-shaped museum comes up on the screen as laser and disco lights play across the audience, bringing the audience to their feet with a rousing rock song. As it finishes, one of the Company puts on a dish-dash and comes forward with one of the others, addressing the audience who cheer and clap:

Arab We thank you! Thank you for rocking up here in Dubai and exploring our ideas for an exciting, sustainable future! From our Expo here, you will see, I hope, that it is possible for an oil-based economy to transform itself into a centre of sustainability, peace and hope!

Marina We do! And we congratulate you on your great progress! –

Vanya And we want our country – and the rest of the world to learn from your extraordinary success!

Nadia What is completely amazing is how quickly you have done it!

Misha In just a few short years, you have gone from a desert oil economy, to a completely diversified mixed urban economy!

Sasha How the hell did you do that??

Arab (very excited) Come see – at our Museum for the Future! We will tell you everything!

Storyteller Interlude:

The company follow the Arab into the wings, as the Storyteller comes forward:

Storyteller Inside – they saw and played with all the staggering displays – and met an American who insisted that they come visit his Clean-Tech Open Trade Show in California – and stage a Rock for the Future concert there. They agreed – but, first, they had an appointment in Africa to see for themselves how they could help young people in one of the poorest countries in the world build more prosperous, peaceful, sustainable livelihoods for their families.

Scene FOURTEEN – Rock the Future World Tour: (contd.)

The backdrop changes to an African Savannah. The company come on – with two dressed as African farmers –led by the Arab in the dish-dash:

Zhenya So – these are your farms in Africa?

Arab Yes! And see! They’re growing very well. [to an African] Aren’t they?

African 1 Very good. We make good money now.

Arab And how is the Health Clinic?

African 1 Wonderful. Wonderful – thank you! We have had no child deaths at all so far this year –praise the lord!

Arab Allah al Akhbar! Yes – and your family is well?

African 1 Better than ever, sir! – and we have only you to thank for that….

Marina Our friend here does not seem so convinced?

African 2 No – it is good. No doubt we are living better than we did before. But now – again – we are slaves to a foreign master.

African 1 Ach! – No – he is joking, sir, Joking!

African 2 Not joking! This land belongs to me – to my father and all my ancestors stretching back thousands of years. Just because you people have money does not mean that you can own our land. Land is the only thing we Africans have. We should not sell it for money….

Arab But we gave you good price –

African 2 My land has no Price! It is part of my soul! You cannot buy my soul…

Marina He’s right, isn’t he?

All Of course!

Arab But we try to help, Yes?

African 1 Yessah. Very much sah!

Sasha You help yourselves first by growing the food you cannot grow in the desert.

Nadia The help you give them is an after-thought.

Marina A sustainable society is one that is fair to all

African 2 I have my family, my language and my land. That is all I have and I will fight to keep it!

African 1 No talk of fighting. We are peaceful people!

African 2 But peace is poisoned by hate. And I hate him for taking my land! My earth! My soul!

African 1 No talk of hating, Please !

African 2 But I hate him for taking my land! My earth! My soul!

Vanya We must learn from you to help without generating resentment!

Zhenya Development is NOT sustainable if it does not build peace and friendship!

African 2 This work does not build peace. It could lead to War – and war is the worst thing on earth.

The company turn and, in a dance that recalls the War song of Scene TWO – they sing / dance:

SONG THIRTEEN: PEACE TRAIN (contd.)

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Now I’ve been crying lately, Thinking about the world as it is Why must we go on hating, Why can’t we live in bliss

‘cos out on the edge of darkness, There rides a peace train

Oh peace train take this country, Come take me home again

Storyteller Interlude:

The Storyteller comes forward as the slides change to show San Francisco and the Cleantech Open site: Storyteller Onward to California – where they found Russia listed second from bottom in the forty countries assessed for innovative green economy start-ups! But the Americans were embarrassed as their President had just announced that he’d decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change agreements. They, too, were not happy with their government:

Scene FOURTEEN – Rock the Future World Tour: (contd.)

Amer. 1 (Coming forward, dressed in American jeans and a cowboy shirt) You’ve got to understand that the business of America is making money – and we’re all here because we KNOW we can make money from the Green economy.

Amer. 2 And make Peace, Justice and Prosperity for all at the same time!

Amer. 1 Have a lot of fun! Make a lot of Money! And help to save the world – That’s our motto!

Misha Makes sense to me!

Nadia You’ve got some pretty amazing innovations here!

Amer. 2 All commercially available madam!

Nina (in Russian) Here’s a car that will go a thousand miles on one battery charge!

Sasha (in Russian) And a wave generator that will power a whole village for ever from just sitting in the sea!

Zhenya (in Russian) Look at this house which will stay warm through the winter just from body heat and a single cooking stove!

Nina (in Russian) It’s unbelievable what they can do! A whole disco that is powered just by the energy of people dancing!

Misha (in Russian) Look at this! A Solar Plane that will fly around the world just using the power of sunlight!

Amer. 1 (in Russian) It’s done it already! Now we are looking into commercial applications of the technology!

Marina How do you speak Russian??

Amer. 1

Most of the people here are from somewhere else! Koreans, Japanese, Brazilian – the digital economy knows no borders!

Vanya Are you coming to the COP?

Amer. 1 I try not to get involved in those things: politicians give me a pain, right about here! (he points at his bottom)

Vanya We know what you mean, sir!

Marina They are the problem!

Misha YOU – are the solution!

Amer. 1 Thank you!

Youth 5 We’ll tell them all about you.

American You do that.

SONG THIRTEEN: PEACE TRAIN (contd.)

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Now we’ve been smiling lately, Thinking about the good things to come And we believe it could be, Something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder

Ride on the peace train

Come on now peace train

Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train

Come on now peace train

The Company come forward in a spectacular tableau – celebrating the Peace and Prosperity they believe is within their reach. FADE TO BLACK-OUT

Storyteller Interlude:

The storyteller leads her group of children forward as the Company moves back and faces the screen. The storyteller explains:

ST The Rock for the Future tour visited many, many countries – and everywhere they went, they found people, especially young people, ready to rise up to their ‘Generational Challenge’ of creating a Green Economy.

Child So – why didn’t they just do it?

ST Because they didn’t have the money. They didn’t have the power!

Child But – didn’t they just tell the grown-ups how stupid they were being?!

Child I do it very politely – but if I keep at it, I usually get my way with teachers and parents!

Child Why were they called Peace Child?

Child They were almost grown-ups, weren’t they?

Child Not children at all!

ST Wait and see. They hadn’t got a name, yet! And yes – they did get their way, eventually. Otherwise none of us would be here!

The slide comes up of a huge conference room – with thousands of people sitting in rows listening, It is the Climate Change Conference of the Parties – and the Company come forward watching, arms folded, disconsolate. They look at each other, glumly, as music starts – softly:

ST The next Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change agreement was held in Katowice, Poland The team were there, as usual. But this time, more than ever, they were angry.

Angry that the governments showed none of their commitment and sense of urgency that they had found around the world – especially amongst young people. For governments –climate change came near to the bottom of their priority list. And the kids knew they had to change this. For dealing with it together – across borders, across religions, ethnicities, cultures – that was the way to build peace without which no development – sustainable or otherwise – could be achieved:

Scene FIFTEEN: Disillusion:

The Company comes forward, singing – angry, pointing the finger at the audience.

SONG FOURTEEN: World So Blind

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

For every gain there is a natural loss

In every church a temple and a mosque

For every paradise there must be a hell

In every saint the devil dwells

For every mountain the must be a plain

In every sea a piece of land

But what we gonna do when it all runs out

What we gonna say when its to late

Are we going to blame it all on someone else

Just not ourselves

World so blind, pretending as if nothing is wrong

Hey there man ! I’m talking to you!

Wait a minute, don’t walk away now

Yes its you! not someone else on a different floor

I mean you! they’ll be breaking down your door

Blaming you forever more

Hungry children with their sunken eyes

Holding out their hands in vain

Wealthy nations with their mountains of food

Excuses flaunted without shame

No one seems to be responsible

No one wants to take the blame

But what we gonna do when it all runs out

What we gonna say when it’s to late

Are we gonna blame it all on someone else

Just not ourselves

World so blind, pretending as if nothing is wrong

Hey there man, I’m talking to you

Wait a minute don’t walk away now

Yes it’s you, not someone else on a different floor

I mean you, they’ll be breaking down your door

Blaming you forever more

Little families in their broken down boats

Going for a sail today they’d say

Tankers laden with the wealth of the world

They wave then turn away

Countries argue over who when and where

But do they really care

And what we gonna do when it all runs out….

What we gonna say when it’s too late

Are we gonna blame it all on someone else

Just not ourselves

World so blind, pretending as if nothing is wrong

Hey there man, I’m talking to you

Wait a minute don’t turn away now

Yes it’s you, not someone else on a different floor

I mean you, they’ll be breaking down your door

Blaming you forever more

The cast hold a tableau pointing fingers at the end of the song.

Scene SIXTEEN: The Victoria Café, UN Secretariat:

BLACK OUT

Coffee tables and chairs are set up across the stage; Vanya and Marina, Sasha and Zhenya, Nadia and Misha are sitting disconsolate at a table. Around them diplomats are talking enthusiastically.

Vanya (Putting down a thick report) I think I shall go mad if I have to read any more of this bullshit!!

Zhenya Why do they have to make it so complicated?!

Misha Because it is!

Nadia Not that complicated! They make it more complicated than it really is so that they can confuse the heck out of their bosses and make them feel that they are earning their money!

Vanya All I know is that it is doing my head in!

Marina And it’s not working. They use reports like these to inhibit progress rather than accelerate it.

Misha I don’t what you guys are complaining about: the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals were two of the greatest successes the UN has ever seen!

Sasha So – what are you suggesting Misha? We just declare victory and move on??

Nadia We have spent almost a year on this –

Marina – and we’re really no further forward.

Vanya We’ve raised a lot of awareness!

Sasha Yeah – but much good it did us!

Nadia Yegor and Nina had the right idea?!

Vanya Yeah?! – I wondered where they’d gone?!

Nadia Nina’s having a baby: so they’ve gone back to Moscow to finish their exams.

Marina Just like that!

Sasha Didn’t bother to tell any one!

Nadia Well – they told me: but I think they were a bit embarrassed.

Marina It wasn’t exactly planned!?

Nadia That’s putting it mildly….!

Vanya Good for Nina!! So – what do we think guys? Let’s go make babies – and put this climate shit behind us!

Marina It would be kind of responsible to finish our studies.

Sasha There’s nothing to keep us here?!

Nadia Well – the youth caucus does kind of rely on us.

Zhenya – and we have got funding to last us through the end of the year.

Vanya But what then?! More reports! More meetings!!

Marina More faffing around!!

The Promoter and Chuck walk in with coffees and sit down at a table close to them, deep in conversation. They don’t notice the Kids…

Zhenya Look who just walked in?!

Sasha – and LOOK!! Look who’s with him!

Marina (leaping up and going to their table!) Hey guys! – what the hell are you doing here?!

Chuck (in perfect Russian) Well – Hi!! How great to see you all!!

Promoter We were just talking about you??

Zhenya Wait a minute: Chuck – what are you doing speaking perfect Russian??!!

Chuck I thought you knew?! They put me on the show because they knew that I would understand what’s going on. I’ve lived in Texas for 20 years – but we still speak Russian at home!

Marina The bastards! They could have told us?!

Chuck Get over it! You changed my life that night!

Marina You’re kidding me?! Is that why you’re here?!

Chuck I’m a part of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All programme. It’s me, representing the oil industry, UNIDO, the World Bank, the European Commission, a few other donors and the Bank of America – it’s a great team!

Vanya I heard! (to the promoter) But why are you here?

Promoter After the success of your tour, Chuck wants me to do something to promote his work!

Marina Success – Ha!!

Chuck What do you mean, kids?! You’ve done more to bring climate change to the world’s attention than any other group in the world?! You changed my mind, for God’s sake!

Promoter And mine!

Chuck And my board! They’re all thrilled with the work I’m doing here at the UN!!

Promoter You should be really proud of yourselves….

Zhenya (Sadly) If you say so!

Chuck So – what’s the next big idea?!

Promoter I heard your Youth Delegation walked out of the last Summit!

Sasha: We did!

All Sorry….

Chuck Don’t be sorry!! It was great!! It’s about time those lazy, good-for-nothing Member State governments got a good kicking. They’re holding us all back. What are you planning now? I heard you raised a good bit of money on the back of your Rock for the Future tour?

Misha We did – and we’ve got a good bit of it left.

Zhenya Truth is – we don’t know what to do now.

Sasha Yeah: we’re at a bit of a dead end.

Vanya – and my Mom and Dad are pestering me to get back and finish up my exams.

Nadia Mine too.

Marina It is kind of over for us!

Chuck Over?!! Did you say “OVER”???!!!

Marina Yes

Chuck No Way!! It’s Just beginning! You can NEVER give up! Ever?!

Promoter Did any one ever tell you the secret of a happy marriage?

All (Smiling, laughing) No!

Promoter The husband has to be scared to death of the wife. That’s why my third marriage has lasted so long! I’m scared shitless of my wife!

Marina (They laugh) So – we’re not married!

Vanya So what’s that got to do with us!?

Chuck EVERYTHING!!! You walked away from their precious Summit so now they’re all scared to death of you.

Promoter Your job is to make them a whole lot more scared. You’ve got to do something HUGE! Tahrir Square – Occupy – Arab Spring – Indignadoes – March for our lives!… Wrap it all up into one huge Action and blow the governments away! It has to be – has to be….??

Chuck AMAZING!

Promoter Yes.

Marina If you say so.

Chuck But you must DO so! I can’t – and neither can the UN. They’re trussed and tied by bureaucracy and the fact that they have 193 bosses. You – the youth! – are free agents: and look at you, travelling around the world, uniting peoples and nations across borders with your smiles and your music in a way that diplomats can only dream of! You can make the UN work – and you must, because you and I need this organisation to work for our future….

Vanya How?

Chuck I don’t know how!!

Promoter You did Rock for the Future. That did more to unite nations than the UN’s done in years!

Misha You did that for us!

Promoter Yes – but it was your idea!

Chuck You know all these clever internet things. You’re on Facebook, Facetime, What’s App –instagram! You have to do it – because sure as hell, these guys here won’t.

Marina So what do you suggest?!

Chuck If you have to rely on us for ideas, we’re dead already!

Promoter You have to come up with the ideas. We’ll help!

Chuck I have got whole teams of people who will help!

Promoter Me too – but it has to be led by you! Invented by you!

Chuck But it has to be HUGE!

Promoter So STOP thinking that it’s over: it’s never over until you’re dead

Chuck – and even then, you can do stuff online from beyond the grave!

Vanya But what the hell can we do?!

Misha We’ll think of something…

Chuck COURSE you will!!!! You kids are the greatest! You changed my life! You will change the world. I KNOW you will!

Promoter Let us know if there’s anything we can do.

Chuck Money – Contacts in the US – contacts in the UN – contacts pretty much anywhere!

Promoter We’re there for you!

All Thanks (they shake hands)

Scene SEVENTEEN: The Victoria Café – Later:

FADE FAST TO BLACK

Chuck and the promoter leave in the black out, along with every one else, apart from Vanya and Marina. Lights come up slowly on them as Vanya looks in shock at Marina.

Vanya What do you mean, “Yes!”

Marina (She slowly turns to him) “YES!” – I love you! “YES!” – I will marry you!

Vanya Just like that?! (he gets up, knocking over his chair)

Marina No! I loved you from the moment you came up to me after that lecture.

Vanya (turning back to her) Why?

Marina You had kind eyes! And you looked as though you really wanted to do something good with your life but weren’t sure quite what: and I felt immediately: ‘This is someone I could live the rest of my life with – searching to do good things…”

Vanya Love at first sight?

Marina I guess.

Vanya That’s how it was for me! Why did you never tell me?!

Marina You never asked!

Vanya I do now…

Marina (getting up and coming to him) And I tell you – Yes, yes, yes!

Vanya That’s… that’s wonderful (they kiss). I feel I should get down on my knees….

Marina If you want. (They kneel, facing each other, arms on each other’s shoulders)

Vanya I promise – to love – to honour – and to care for you – in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, from this day forth, until death do us part.

Marina I promise…. The Same! (She gets up!) But – you know the best thing? In all this good work we want to do – the fuel that drives everything is Love!

Vanya Yes! – and it’s free and totally non-polluting!!

Marina So – if we fill the hearts of every person on this planet with love – love for each other, love for the planet, love for the future – peace will be the result.

Vanya Peace is the inevitable by-product of Love

Marina So we will be peace-makers as well as future-savers!

Vanya And “Blessed are the Peace-makers, for they shall be called the Children of God’

Marina And our own children …. You do want children?

Vanya Desperately!

Marina They will be peace-makers?

Vanya I hope so. Nina said she’d like to raise a Peace Child.

Marina When?

Vanya She wrote back to me when I sent her an email congratulating her.

Marina That! – that’s a great name for our group?

Vanya What do you mean?

Marina Peace Child…

Vanya Singular?

Marina Yes – you don’t say “Facesbook.” You say Facebook!

Vanya Peace Child! Creating Peace for each child!

Marina And love – our love –

Vanya – Everyone’s Love!

Marina Will bring us Peace Music starts

Vanya Because Love is the most powerful force in the world

Marina More powerful than the biggest nuclear bomb!

SONG FIFTEEN: Love will teach you this SCORE VIDEO AUDIO INSTRUMENTAL

Marina Love, love will teach you this Hold on to every smile and kiss

You never know how long it will last Before your paths will have to part And sorrow will overwhelm your soul

And you will feel no purpose to go on

Vanya Love, love has brought me this Pain most often follows bliss

Emptiness when he’s not there

Ecstasy when he re-appears

And I am happy by his side

As I fall into his arms, Tears and smiles

The Company come on in the background, and sing – softly – with them:

Love, love will bring you this Love, love will make you rich

A new beginning to your life there will be

A paradise before your eyes you will see

And there you will abide

For as long, as long as it will last

With a feeling that you have lived

As the song ends, the Company bring forward chairs to their table. They crowd round Vanya and Marina, slapping them on the back. Yegor pops a champagne cork: they toast the happy couple!

Sasha Long life – and happiness!

Yegor Congratulations!! (to Vanya) – I never thought you’d have the guts to ask!

Marina He almost didn’t!

Zhenya I wish you many children! The world needs more people like you!

Nadia Peace Children!

Marina Right! We thought of a new name for our group:

Nina Peace Child ??

Marina Exactly!

Vanya We think it’s perfect! Peace! Child!!!

Sasha What’s wrong with Rock the Future!?

Vanya We think it’s a bit aggressive

Nadia But Peace Child!?

Sasha We’re not children!

Zhenya – and we work to stop Climate Change – not Peace!

Nina But we work for the children

Vanya It was Nina’s idea: we’re working for her baby – for future generations.

Marina And it’s not just climate change – it’s ending poverty, health for all, education for all

Nina Human rights for all

Vanya LOVE for all! And – if you do all that, you have Peace!

Marina So – Peace Child. Like Face Book!

Zhenya I like it!

Sasha I think it’s a bit soppy…

Nina What do the rest of you think?

Misha It’s good branding!

Nadia I think it could fly!

Zhenya It’s better than Rock for the Future!

Misha I was never happy with that!

Vanya Yeah! – we need to re-brand! (They all murmur their agreement.)

Zhenya I thought we were closing down – going back to get on with exams…??

Vanya But Chuck wants us to do something HUGE ….!

Nina He has no clue what?

Vanya I’m fresh out of ideas too!

Nadia I don’t see that there’s anything we can do!

Misha So may we should all just go home, get on with our studies and forget about it?!

Yegor Like everyone else seems to have done!

Marina You’re kidding, right?! (The Promoter comes in at the back, listening. They don’t see him)

Misha Not really! Look! – we’ve done Rock for the Future in 30 cities on five continents

Nina – mobilised millions of young people around the world to think about climate change!

Zhenya But our governments have done fuck nothing!

Sasha And unless they make it a priority to address climate change above all the other thousands of things they have to do – we’re toast!

Misha And look at the latest Science report: government commitments made in Paris have us heading for 5.4 degrees of warming. The scientists say we have to get it down to 1.5!

Nadia Science is here – governments are there!

Vanya So, you’re saying there’s no way we’re going to close that gap?

Zhenya What is it that the oil companies have to do: write off 80% of their proven reserves?!

Misha Yes! Trillions of dollars worth of assets.

Nadia They’re never going to do that…..

Yegor Not in a million years!

Vanya So – there’s nothing else we can do.

Misha We’re done!

Marina I can’t believe I’m hearing this!! I said I’d marry you because you get shit done!! If you think I’m going to go back to my studies, graduate – have a big white wedding, get a nice flat, have babies and make you nice dinners – while our planet slowly fries…. Well, you just signed up to the shortest engagement in history!

Vanya I’m sorry! It’s just so hard…..!

Yegor We’re not miracle kids?!!

Marina We are!! We have to be!! “The impossible we do immediately! Miracles take us a little longer….” We just have to keep working at it.

Sasha Well – you can. But my head’s getting a bit sore from banging it against brick walls….

Marina and Vanya look at each other, blankly – as the others wait for them to say something.

Promoter (Coming forward) What would Gandhi do? [They all turn, surprised, and look at him]

Yegor Gandhi??

Promoter Mahatma Gandhi – yes!

Nadia What the fuck’s Gandhi got to do with any of this?

Promoter It’s just a question people ask. Some ask “What would Jesus do?” We used to ask: “What would Lenin do?” I ask “What would Gandhi do?” – because he liberated India from the British – which everyone said was impossible.

Vanya You’re right: they all changed the world?! How did Gandhi do it??

Misha Hunger strikes!

Promoter Yes!

Yegor Oh great! Now you’re suggesting we all starve ourselves to death?!

Nina That’s well sustainable!

Marina Wait! Think about it: a Consumption strike! We tell our elders: “NO! – we’re not going to consume your stupid goods! We’re not going to buy your stupid cars or TVs…

Vanya “We’re not going to go to your stupid schools and learn your stupid lessons that teach us so much crap about useless information….!

Marina “We’re going to have a revolution!”

Promoter You’re going to “Be the Change you want to see in the world!”

Misha Did Gandhi say that?

Promoter Hi did! – he was all about empowering young people.

Nadia We could go on Strike!

Yegor But we would still eat!?

Vanya Sure – but only vegetarian!

Zhenya So what we go on strike for?

Marina To get our governments to listen to us!

Vanya Gandhi never had the global connections we have! We’re a billion strong on Facebook. We can reach every kid in the world –

Marina – and if every kid in the world tells the idiot adults and governments who haven’t got time to deal with Climate Change – to think about our future security, they’ll have to listen to us.

Sasha We can demand a meeting of the UN Security Council –

Zhenya – to secure our future security.

Marina Our Planet’s Security

Nadia They’d never let kids into the UN Security Council?

Promoter They did for that Youth Peace and Security group.

Nina A billion kids out on strike

Marina – demanding that governments do what it takes to secure our planet’s future?

Zhenya That’s a much bigger issue.

Yegor It’s more than one speech at the UN Security Council

Sasha It’s about creating a United Nations that works!

Nadia – a United Nations that does things!

Marina It’s a complete re-building of the world’s economy.

Misha Problem: no one in government knows how to do that?

Sasha But those groups we met on our tour do! In Dubai – in California, in China.

Promoter They’re doing it – but not nearly fast enough.

Vanya And every kid needs to know that it is possible to do it.

Nina Like we do!

Marina But to do it, we have to have peace!

Yegor No more wars!

Misha – to give us the time and money to do it!

Nina Peace Child!

Vanya Right! Let’s drink to Peace Child!

All We can do it! (They raise their glasses and drink a toast….)

Misha (doubtful, suddenly) Can we?

Marina We’ll make Draft Treaties – so that every one knows what we need to do?

Youth 3 We can make a movie –

Youth 6 Tweets – whatsapp and facebook groups in different languages….

Marina And we have one amazing secret weapon!

Nadia What’s that?

Marina This!! (she holds up a flash drive!)

Yegor What?

Vanya (smiling) The email addresses of every youth leader and NGO in every UN member state!

Marina The one hundred million youth we’ve been in touch with over our campaign so far!

Misha So we can bring every Kid in the world out on Strike!

Sasha Kids on Strike!!

Zhenya Right!

Nina Sounds Fun!

Nadia Kids on Strike!

Yegor Sounds cool!

All Kids on Strike – Kids on strike!! – Kids on Strike!!!!!!! BLACK OUT

Scene EIGHTEEN: Kids on Strike Central:

A Committee room in an office somewhere in New York. The kids come on stage – Misha carrying a laptop computer.

Sasha This is never going to work!?

Misha ‘Course it is!

Zhenya You’d join a school strike for time off school, wouldn’t you?

Nina ‘Course I would!

Yegor It’s a no-brainer!

Marina But that’s exactly NOT the point: the point is that while they are off school, they’ll take the time to learn about Climate Change, how to build a Green Economy

Nadia Human rights – peace-building, conflict transformation …

Misha Sustainable behaviours, AI – robotics….

Vanya The things that really matter!

Nina OK, OK! I know! But for normal kids, the way to get them involved in all this is to tell them that it is a way to get time off school! Am I right?!

Marina So we don’t even tell them that our goal is to get the UN Security Council to consider our draft treaties –

Yegor We tell them –

Nina But in the small print!

Zhenya The headline appeal has to be: “Take a holiday from school!!”

Misha So – shall I push the button?

Marina Wait: it sounds awfully trivial to me!

Vanya The governments are really going to hate us!

Zhenya They hate us already!

Yegor What’s all this talk of Hate?! This is an act of Love for the Planet.

Sasha For future generations!

Nina We’re Peace Child!!

Marina – and we must take the moral high ground, defending our strike as a way of educating young people about the most important challenge of their lives!

Vanya Their ‘generational challenge!!’ And the minute the governments call us a Security Council Meeting at the UN, the Strike is off!

Misha Are we agreed?! (they all look at him silent, nervous. One nods) So I’m going to push the button!

Misha pushes a big red button at the centre of the screen. A spiders web spreads out across the map

Nina What have we done?! BLACK OUT

Storyteller Interlude:

The Storyteller comes forward as the slides change to show San Francisco and the Cleantech Open site:

Storyteller Not much, as it happened! A bunch of e-mails went out around the world – and the impact was a big fat NOTHING! Nobody thought they were serious….

Child So what did the kids do?

Storyteller Two things. First – they appointed youth Strike Leaders in every UN Member State to lead the campaign locally. Second – they worked up a series of treaties for governments to sign when they met at the UN Security Council.

Child How did they do that?

Storyteller Well – the translation gizmo helped….

Scene NINETEEN: Kids on Strike Central:

A Committee room in an office somewhere in New York. The kids sit round the table, working the phones.

Sasha (shaking the phone) The Japanese is not working!

Over the PA, we hear a torrent of Japanese coming over the phone. Misha comes over and pushes a few buttons. Suddenly the voice starts coming through in Russian. Sasha smiles his thanks to Misha.

Japanese Voice Japanese youth are very obedient people. They can never strike like you suggest!

Sasha But it’s a matter of life and death! None of us know enough about it. Do your teachers give you any lessons on climate change?? Do you do exams on it??

Japanese Voice No. But we hear about it on the news!

Sasha That’s my point! We all know a little bit about it – but none of us know enough! The school strike gives us all a chance to learn….

Japanese Voice Well I shall put your points to our government liaison. They will know what to do

Sasha But they don’t!! They won’t do anything – unless you take extreme action!

Japanese Voice We trust our government to do the right thing… Thank you and good-bye!

Sasha Aaaargh!! It’s useless –

Yegor You think you’ve got problems: look at this interview in France:

The interview plays on the screen above them – they watch, as the simultaneous translation comes through in Russian– the interviewer is female, the teacher is male

Interviewer Let me ask you this: where in your curricula do you teach the challenge of the 2 degree threshold – or if it should be the 1.5 degree threshold?

Teacher We – er….

Interviewer And what do you teach them about the impact of the disappearance of the Arctic ice-cap – ocean flip-flop and all that?!

Teacher It’s – er….

Interviewer … nowhere in the current French curricula, is it? You don’t have a clue what we’re talking about, do you?

Teacher Er….

Interviewer That’s our point!! – NOT to stop kids learning but rather to start them learning all the things that are absolutely VITAL to their future – like limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees!

Teacher Mm. We show them how to use a thermometer in physics….

The kids all laugh – then the screen reverts back to the huge blank world map

Marina It’s not funny!

Vanya Not one single country has come through for us

Misha It’s early days yet….

Nadia Give it time! Have Faith?

Marina Do you have faith?

Nadia I do, actually! I’m a Christian

Zhenya I’m a muslim – and if I didn’t believe that Allah absolutely does NOT want human beings to ruin his lovely planet through climate change – I wouldn’t be doing this stuff.

Yegor I’m Jewish – and I believe EXACTLY the same thing. Judaism is all about stewardship of the earth.

Nina I didn’t know you were Jewish.

Yegor Is that a problem??

Nina No!! It’s lovely…

Marina You religious folk are weird! I mean – it’s not like as if there’s some one up there who’s going to come down in a cloud and magically make it all happen!

Sasha Not as weird as putting your faith in that the bunch of bozos we were with at the UN last month!

Zhenya If you believe they’re going to come up with the solution, you’re seriously deluded.

Marina I prefer to believe that rational argument, people seeing the SENSE in what we’re talking about, will cause the break-through ….

Nadia Is there a problem with doing both?!

Marina We’d be foolish not to ….

Vanya I pray that God sorts this out for us – but I will also use every ounce of energy I have to make it work.

Sasha Let us all pray – ‘cos this thing’s going to take a miracle!!

With a “Ping!” – a small patch goes red on the map above them.

Marina Shit – what does that mean?!

Misha It’s Estonia! They’ve called the kids out on Strike!!

Nadia It means it’s happening!

Nina We’re on our way, guys!

Zhenya Have faith. Please – have faith! Allah – God – does NOT want us to fry our world!

Yegor That’s the best thing! Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists – we ALL have to work together on this thing.

Marina Serious peace-building!

Sasha It’s still a ridiculously impossible task we’ve set ourselves!

Nadia That’s why we’ve got to have faith!

Zhenya No amount of logic is going to win the battle!

Marina And we all knew it was never going to be easy

Vanya – or be quick!

Sasha “Give your life!” – remember!

Nadia But however bad it gets, I know – I KNOW – we’re going to make it!

Zhenya/Yegor Me too!

MUSIC STARTS

They join their hands together and move forward, singing, and, as they sing – more and more countries on the map above them splash red:

SONG SIXTEEN: I BELIEVE

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO 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 world

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 world

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!

As the song ends, they look around at the map – and are gobsmacked. Then they all fall into each other’s arms and hold a tableau in a group hug. BLACK OUT

Scene TWENTY: In the Office of the Foreign Minister:

A large desk is set up centre stage. The National Flag and Seal appear on the Screen behind, The Foreign Minister sits at his desk. 2 x Aides nervously approach him from stage left:

Aide 1 Sorry to disturb you, Excellency…

Foreign Minister What is it?

Aide 2 This business of the school strike.

Aide 1 You’ve heard about it?

FM Yes? As you know, my children are beyond school age, so I have not paid it much attention.

Aide 2 It’s quite serious

Aide 1 Over a billion students are now out on strike

Aide 2 – including about half the students in the Russian Federation.

FM I share your concern – but it’s a domestic matter. Nothing to do with my ministry.

Aide 1 Except that – they are demanding a meeting of the UN Security Council

FM Why?

Aide 2 To discuss their recommendations on Climate Change –

Aide 1 – and other things.

FM We can’t go calling on Security Council Meetings to discuss random children’s ideas…

Aide 1 Except that, if it gets the students to call off their strike, we shall earn the gratitude of many UN member state governments.

Aide 2 We have called the Perm Reps of China, USA, UK and France – and they would all support the call.

FM So – why don’t they call it?

Aide 1 They’re waiting for your response, Excellency.

FM Do we have to do anything about their recommendations?

Aide 2 Of course not, sir. Just ‘consider’ them….

FM So – what might be the downside if we called it?

Aide 1 Our Perm Rep might have to make an introductory speech …

FM We can manage that, don’t you think?

Aide 2 Of course, Excellency!

FM (pleased with himself) I might even make it myself! Thank you! Go do it. Good to show some positive Russian leadership in the P-5, don’t you think?

Aides 1 & 2 Definitely, Excellency!

They back away, deferentially. BLACK OUT

Scene TWENTY-ONE: Kids on Strike Central:

A Committee room in an office somewhere in New York. The kids sit round the table, looking at a beautifully bound document:

Marina So this is it?

Nina It’s beautiful!

Nadia Beautifully written at least: who wrote it?

Misha It builds on “Statements” produced by 400 UN-related international meetings of young people over the last 20 years. From these, we prepared a draft of “Generational Priorities” which were sent out in 78 different languages to every kid who joined the school strike.

Sasha It also went to media outlets in all 193 UN Member states.

Misha Over a billion responses were received and analysed by our software. This document represents the best expression of the consensus views of the current generation of citizens under the age of 25 that the world has ever seen.

Vanya But – what do we all feel? Is it any good?

Misha I like it because it’s an “Action Plan” – not just random statements.

Marina I like it for its priorities: peace, good and honest governance,

Nina Health, education, jobs, human rights – safety and security for all.

Zhenya But climate change is way down the list.

Yegor At least it’s on the list!

Nadia In the UN’s MyWorld2015 survey – it almost wasn’t.

Vanya Doesn’t matter guys! We’re not representing ourselves at this meeting: we’re representing every single kid on this planet who has chosen to support us!

Misha So – shall we send it out!?

Sasha Just to the Security Council Member States….

Nina Why not all of them?

Zhenya And the Media?

Misha Because it’s more of a story once the Security Council has reacted.

Marina So – we just send it to the Permanent Representatives of the 15 Security Council Members?

All Yes.

Misha Now?

All Now!

Misha (Touches the screen on his smart phone) Done! BLACK OUT

Scene TWENTY-TWO: At the UN:

Lights change – the Big UN symbol appears on the screen at the back of the stage. The Company is split between those in dark suits, playing diplomats, and those in jeans who come as youth activists. Chuck and the Promoter come on with the diplomats, and greet the Youth Activists.

Marina I don’t believe it! – you came!

Chuck Of course I came!

Promoter We are so proud of you guys!

Vanya Thank you!

Chuck No – thank YOU! This is HUGE!

Sasha Do you think they’ll listen?

Promoter Let’s wait and see – but at least you got their attention!

The diplomats sit down around a horseshoe table designed to represent the UN Security Council Chamber. The Secretary General sits at the apex of the table and raps his gavel:

S G Good morning everyone. We are gathered here to listen to the ideas of young people –who, as we have seen, have added a welcome element of urgency to our task of combating climate change and building a Green Economy. I am pleased to declare this Special Session of the UN Security Council “Open!” (She slaps the gavel.) Before we hear from the young people, I call upon the Government of the Russian Federation, who requested this meeting, whose Foreign Minister we are privileged to welcome to this chamber this morning. Your Excellency?

FM: My government’s reasons for calling this meeting were both pragmatic – to get our Young People to go back to school! – and idealistic: we have read their Action Plan and, though naïve in parts, it expresses both the sense of urgency your excellency referred to, and a sense of the holistic approach we have to adopt in relation to these challenges. So –please: join me in welcoming these young people to this important meeting! (Polite applause)

S G I call upon the leaders of the Young People’s delegation to address us:

Marina: It is an awesome honour to address your Excellencies in this iconic chamber! As we say in the Preamble to our Call, humanity stands at a crossroads: one way leads to prosperity and security 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.

Vanya: We called the world’s young people out on strike because we wanted them to know first: that the precipice exists and we are very close to it. Second: HOW we’re going to work together to avoid going over it …

Yegor Lessons none of us were really learning at school

Nadia But it’s probably the most important lesson that any child born in the world today needs to learn. And now – through our action – they do know. MUSIC starts

Marina And – in the process – we have learned how to Unite Nations –

Sasha … how to care for each other, leave no one behind, and Unite the world’s major religions.

Zhenya More than that – we have found amongst us the Peace that this great organisation was set up to secure.

Yegor We now know we can save ‘succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’

Marina: In this building, you agreed the Sustainable Development Goals – Goals designed to bring us together as one big human family.

Vanya The Action Plan we set before you today is designed to achieve those goals – to achieve peace and prosperity for every member of our human family.

Misha The current dangers are great and, as your reports have often told us, the very survival of the human family is at stake.

Nina That’s very frightening to a young person.

Marina Through our studies, we’ve learned that we can survive. But we need your help! We cannot do it without you.

SONG SEVENTEEN:

We want this world to survive for ever SCORE

VIDEO ( – go to end)

AUDIO

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 forever And people are the reason why Children and parents, lovers and poets We just can’t hear our planet cry!

We want this world to survive forever And all the people join their hands together In a bond of love, kindness and friendship We can make peace with the earth

So many people have died in wars

And we want that no one else should suffer – not again We mustn’t forget that many are poor And half of our children lack even food!

We know this world is a wonderful place It’s our home – where we live and where we grow! I want to believe that this world can be Peaceful, free – and happy home for all

We want this world to survive forever

And all the people join their hands together In a bond of love kindness and friendship We can make peace with the earth.

Let’s join our hands together

Let’s make Peace throughout our World!

INSTRUMENTAL

S G Thank you: I’ve rarely been so moved by a presentation in this chamber. Thank you – and now, Excellencies, may I suggest that we go through the Children’s Action Plan line by line –and see where we can find consensus?

Marina (whispers) Why do they keep calling us ‘Children’?!

Diplo 1: With respect, Secretary General, may I raise a Point of Information?

S G Go ahead:

Diplo 1: Does this meeting today mean that any interest group can use a campaign of civil disobedience to get access to this chamber?

S G Absolutely not.

Diplo 1: Thank you – and having trotted through their naïve little litany of proposals, can we have some kind of guarantee that their campaign will be called off?

S G The campaign is already called off, as you must know, Excellency: it was called off the minute that this meeting was announced.

Diplo 1: Good. Just let it be registered that my government regrets profoundly that the United Nations has allowed an interest group to put a gun to our head to force this meeting upon us.

S G Your regrets are noted, Excellency –

Diplo 2: A further point of information, Chairman: my government has a representative system of local, regional and national youth councils that allow the voice of youth to be heard in government. Are any of the views expressed in this Acton Plan the result of deliberations within such representative systems? – or any process that would give them some democratic legitimacy?

S G Were national youth councils involved in the development of your Call?

Marina: As we explain in the preamble, the Action Plan is based on youth statements and declarations going back over 20 years – revised and edited with comments and input from many millions of young people in every UN member state.

Sasha We reached out to all of them, your excellencies. But, as we found with other elected officials, long-term issues like those in this Action Plan are not priorities for them. (murmurs of laughter around the room.)

Vanya Some youth councils drove consultations in their countries; most did not.

Diplo 2: Thank you. (to his fellow diplomats) As I suspected, this Call for Action has no democratic legitimacy. We are only discussing it because we’ve been forced to do so by civil disobedience

Yegor (In a loud whisper) Isn’t a Billion Young People out on Strike enough legitimacy?

Diplo 3: Forgive me, Secretary General, just one other procedural point of information:

S G Of course?

Diplo 3: The diplomats around this table represent governments elected by citizens over the age of 18 or 21. Why, then, are we being asked to discuss an Action Plan prepared by, and informed by input from, citizens who are not constitutionally allowed to vote for the governments we represent?

FM That is the point, Excellency! We are considering the ideas of the citizens whose future we are required to secure.

Diplo 3: I still submit this meeting is unconstitional – which is regrettable (murmurs of assent.)

S G Your points are noted, Excellency. Shall we proceed? (in a tired voice) Blah – bla-blah-blaBlah!

Diplo 1 (equally tired and disinterested) Bla-bla-bla-Blah! Blah! Blah! Bla-bla-bla-Blah!

Diplo 2 (a little heated) Bla-bla-bla-Blah! Blah! Blah! Bla-bla-bla-Blah!

Diplo 3 (responding angrily) Bla-bla-bla-Blah! Blah! Blah! Bla-bla-bla-Blah!

Diplo 1 (pouring calming oil on troubled waters) Bla-bla-bla-Blah! Blah! Blah! Bla-bla-bla-Blah!

Diplo 2 (wrapping up the conversation) Bla-bla-bla-Blah! Blah! Blah! Bla-bla-bla-Blah!

S G Thank you. Your excellent points are noted. If Excellencies agree, a report of this session will be delivered to the 3rd Committee in the Autumn. At the Committee’s sole discretion, a resolution may be drafted and forwarded to the General Assembly at its session next year – and, if carried, will have advisory status to member states. Is that acceptable to members?

Vanya: Next year!!!??

S G Given that there is no particular urgency, I suggest we take a coffee break now – and return to consider the Action Plan in detail in our second session. We resume in twenty minutes. Thank you! (he slaps the gavel – and they all EXIT)

The kids remain – looking at each other, trying to smile, but all a little shell-shocked

Sasha What – was that all about??

Nina All that Blah-blah!

Nadia Where are the grown-ups?!!

Yegor If these are the people we’re trusting to save the world – we’re toast!

Zhenya “No particular sense of urgency…” Which planet did he come from?

Vanya Come on – she was the one decent one amongst them!

Misha But here – look at this: (going through the papers on one desk) “Instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “On No Account allow serious consideration of the Children’s Treaties…”

Sasha Bastards! – they never were going to do anything…

Nadia They’re just going through the motions to get us to call off the strike!

Misha Wouldn’t you do that in their position?!

Vanya We shouldn’t have made those promises about ‘No Pre-conditions’

Marina They have betrayed us.

Zhenya The UN has let us down every step of the way

Misha Copenhagen, Rio+20

Marina – even Paris

Yegor And the SDGs.

Nina No one’s serious about those

Misha We need new governments…. New people to sit in these chairs!

Sasha (grinning mischievously) Well! – Look – that sign says Russian Federation. I know I can do a better job of representing my country than that guy with all his Blah-blah!

Nadia That sign says China – one of my grandfathers came from there….

Quickly, they fill the chairs around the horseshoe table. Marina & 2 go to the SG’s chair

Marina & Vanya: Can we be your gender-balanced co-chairs?

Zhenya Great idea! – all those in favour? (All raise their hands)

Vanya (slapping the gavel) We call this meeting of the Young People’s UN Security Council to order!

Marina First motion, please!

Sasha I move we agree our Climate Change target of 350ppm and the $43 Trillion dollar Investment Fund for the immediate transition to a Green Economy. Do I have a seconder?

Nina I second that on behalf of Future Generations!

Vanya All those in favour? Come on – raise those hands!

All raise their hands. The Boy slaps the gavel:

Marina Agreed! Unanimously!! Next – ?

Nadia I move our Sustainability Education bill – to “Re-orient Education towards sustainability!”

Yegor “That every Youth is instructed in the science of sustainability from the day they enter primary school to the day they graduate university and that they be assessed for their competence in this subject as a key requirement of graduation!” I second!

Marina All those in favour? (all raise their hands. The Girl slaps the gavel)

Vanya Agreed! Next – ?

Misha I move our comprehensive Peace, nuclear disarmament and de-militarisation Treaty –

Yegor Remind me…

Nadia The UN Standing Army?

Misha No! – the UN Police Force designed to police the referendums in Kashmir, Nagorno Karabakh and Western Sahara within 12 months; to secure the South Asian Common Market; to broker the 2-state solution for Israel / Palestine with Jerusalem hosting both capitals; the African Great Lakes Union – the expansion of Mercosur and ECOWAS plus the re-distribution of permanent seats on the UN Security Council to regional blocs.

Zhenya It runs to 18-pages: its pretty comprehensive.

Nina I know – we all supported it. I second…

Vanya All those in favour? (all raise their hands. He smacks down the gavel!) Agreed!

Marina Next?

Sasha I move our Development Treaty –

Yegor Remind me

Nadia That was the one about the Tobin Tax, giving the UN authority to raise and spend direct taxes to create a global welfare and energy safety net;

Sasha And the whole scandal about debt – and preventing Vulture Funds suing governments for debt that they have bought at knock-down prices.

Zhenya I remember – That’s appalling! I second!

Marina Great. All those in favour? (all raise their hands; the gavel smacks down!) Agreed!

Vanya Next – ? – we’re running out of time here –

Zhenya The Environmental Security Council

Vanya That was my idea! I second that from the chair!

Marina All those in favour? (all raise their hands. He smacks down the gavel!) Agreed!

Vanya Great! Time for one more – if we’re lucky!

Misha R2P?

Marina Sure – go for it!

Nina It’s a bit fuzzy this one…

Misha Not fuzzy at all: “We hold it our sacred duty as citizens of planet earth to protect the human rights and dignity of all the peoples with whom we share this earth. We therefore commit to serve and protect those rights against all who would try to violate them – individually, communally, nationally, regionally and globally.”

Marina I think that’s pretty clear!

Zhenya We’re talking about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights actually meaning what it says. I second that!

Yegor Me too!

Marina All those in favour! (all raise their hands) Agreed (He slaps the gavel as the Diplomats come in, led by the Secretary-General. They stop, astonished at the young people occupying their chairs at the Summit table.)

S G What the – ? What’s going on here??!!

Zhenya We decided we’d help things along a bit –

Nina – get done in your coffee break what might take you guys 40 years to do!

Nadia By which time, you’ll be dead and our world will be fried!

Diplo 3: This is outrageous – they’ve been looking through our confidential briefings!

Misha Yeah! – embarrassing isn’t it: to know you planned to agree absolutely nothing!

Diplo 1: Get these kids outta here! Call Security!!

Zhenya No – we should call security on you! You are the threat to OUR security!

Nina We’re no threat to your’s!

Diplo 2: Mr Secretary General: you must agree! This is a most shocking breach of UN security – you must allow us to eject these Children immediately.

S G Not a breach of security, but a breach of protocol, certainly, so I think our young friends had better leave.

Yegor And let you faff around for another 40 years!

Sasha Not likely.

Diplo 3: Their insolence is insupportable. Call Security!

Diplo 2: Eject them!

Misha I suggest you re-consider: one click on my I-phone here and the billion young people who’ve been on strike these last weeks will come out again, baying for your blood! Think how that will make you look in the media?!

Vanya And to your governments back in your capitals – for whom you were supposed to solve the problem!

S G What would you have us do?

Marina We would like you to sit with us, quietly, with open minds – and go through every element of our Draft Treaties

Vanya We know we’re naïve! We need your experience in the art of the possible. But you also need our energy – our idealism – our thirst for a future that works!

Nina Please! You were Children once.

Zhenya You looked forward to lives filled with happiness, love and security!

Misha Lawyers would call your failure to act on climate change an ‘intergenerational crime!’

Sasha We should probably sling you in jail for murdering our future. (music starts…)

Nadia Instead, we ask you to talk to us – to work with us!

Zhenya It’s all we ever asked!

Vanya To work with us to make the Future we Want!

Marina The Future we need to survive

One comes forward and sings. During the song, the diplomats are bewitched and led like lambs to the table where they sit together with the youth – reading through the papers, looking to each other for clarifications, working together, elders and youth – working it out. Together.

SONG EIGHTEEN: CHILD FOR A DAY

I was a child who ran full of laughter

I was a child who lived for a day

My eyes full of sunshine

My heart full of smiles

I was a child for a day.

We were the children who ran 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 are the children of yesterday.

We are the men who worry of nothing

We are the men who speak without aim

Who listen to no one yet speak of their wisdom

We were the ones we would say.

We’re getting older as time goes by

A little older every day

We are the children of yesterday.

I was a child who ran full of laughter

I was a child who lived for a day

My eyes full of sunshine

My heart full of smiles

I was a child for a day.

We’re getting older as time goes by

A little older every day

We were the children of yesterday.

The lights fade very slowly on the scene of the elder diplomats and the youth working together. On the screen behind them, the UN Symbol ripples into the Peace Day 2050 symbol

Scene TWENTY-THREE: Peace Day 2050:

The spotlight picks out the Story-teller and her group as they return to the stage watching the diplomats and youth at work around the horse-shoe table. During the scene – they, and the Chorus – slip away and the stage is cleared.

Child 4 So – was that it?

Child 3 All done and dusted in a 20-minute coffee break?

S T No – silly! We were stuck in that stifling room for weeks. As you saw – we didn’t have much respect for diplomats at the start – and they were furious with us! But after a month of working together, we began to realise how much we needed each other.

Child 1 So – were you friends!?

S T Good friends! We laughed a lot – I don’t think laughter had ever been a big feature of the UN Security Council until we got there. And we sang, and we chatted and we banged heads together: we refused to take ‘No!’ for an answer.

Child 2 What happened to Vanya and Marina?

Child 3 Did they stay married?!

S T They did – had three children, I think! Their daughter’s a reporter on Channel 1 news; one of their sons is something in the government – and their other son’s in Japan somewhere.

Child 4 But what did they do?

S T They bought a big farm back East – raised their family, farmed, lived quietly and were very happy, I think!

Child 5 Don’t you see them?

S T Once in a while! We had a reunion a few years back and it was great! Once a Peace Child –always a Peace Child! But we went our separate ways – most of us. I became a teacher –another became a university professor. One runs a green business in Germany…

Child 6 But – how did you ever stop?

S T Stop what?

Child 1 Changing the world?

S T Very easily! It’s exhausting – something to do when you’re young, like you! And you should only change those things that MUST be changed. Otherwise – just back off and let people get on with their lives….

Child 4 Thank you!

S T For what?

Child 6 For being a Peace Child.

Child 2 Did you ever hear about that other one?

ST What other one?

Child 1 The one in Papua New Guinea?

Child 1 Surely you know the story?

S T No – did I miss something?

Youth In school, when you learn your story, they tell you the Papua New Guinea story first.

ST Tell me!

Youth “When indigenous tribes made peace, they sealed it by exchanging a baby: each baby grew up with the other’s tribe and if, in the future, conflict threatened, each tribe would send out that child to negotiate a peace.

Child 1 Such a child was called a ‘Peace Child’!

S T I didn’t know that.

Youth 4 It was a Christian Missionary who discovered the story: he used it to explain why God sent his only son, Jesus – to be a Peace Child between God and Human beings.

Youth 6 Our teachers use the story to show that young people can shoulder big responsibilities –even when we’re young.

Marina Like you did.

ST Fascinating! Perhaps that’s a better reason to celebrate Peace Day than my story. Because every child must learn to be a Peace Child?

Child 1 That’s our job, isn’t it?

S T I guess!

Child 5 Don’t worry! We can do it –

Child 3 – if ever you need us to do it again.

S T That’s very comforting. Thank you.

MUSIC starts

Child 5 Come on – the party’s starting. You don’t want to miss the Peace Day Party, do you?

S T Never!

Children Happy Peace Day – and thank you for what you did! (They gather round him/her in a hug)

S T Happy Peace Day Everyone!

Cast & Chorus enter at the back of the theatre, dancing down the aisles – the dance troupe enter on stage, reprising the dance from the top of the show

SONG NINETEEN: S I N G !

SCORE VIDEO AUDIO 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!

During the instrumental interlude, Youths 1 & 2 are hoisted on the shoulders of two leading chorus members. The Girl on the other side is likewise raised up, and the chorus process out through the aisles while the dancers fill the stage with a festive finale, flanked by the solo singers.

Come into my joy!

Come into my pain!

Love! – love is all I need,

Love is all I want, Come you be a friend of mine, Love is everywhere! I’ll be the same!

Peace! – Peace is all I want,

Peace is all I need,

Come into my joy!

Come into my pain

Come you be a friend of mine!

Peace – everywhere! I’ll be the same!

(Repeat x 2)

T H E E N D

© Peace Child International – October 2018