The
International Day of Peace Play
by Robert Alan & Steve Diamond(Based on the picture book by
Steve Diamond & Robert Alan )
© 1996-2005 Steve Diamond
& Robert Alan
but this play may be freely distributed and performed
for non-commercial uses to promote peace on earth
(Please let us know if your school or group performs it -
pforpeace@aol.com - Thanks :-))
BLUESHIRTS: AMIR, JOSÉ, IVAN, JOHNNY, JUANITA
GREENSHIRTS: KWANZA, MARIA, MAYA, ALI, WEI-LING
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[Setting: Two groups of kids playing. BLUE SHIRTS are playing "war" with toy guns. GREEN SHIRTS are playing tag.]
NARRATOR: Once upon a time, there were some kids playing outside in their school yard. The children came from families of many different backgrounds; some played well together ... and some did NOT. This is the story of 1 day that changed their lives forever.
[BLUESHIRTS calling out: "POW" "POW" and "GOTCHYA" as one by one each falls to the ground.]
JOHNNY: [sitting up] Wow that was fun.
JUANITA: Yeah! Let's play again. This time I'm the commander.
IVAN: Nah. I'm tired of playing war. Let's play baseball.
AMIR: But we don't have enough kids to play.
JOSÉ: We can ask THEM.
IVAN: No way, José! THEY'RE GREENSHIRTS!
BLUESHIRTS TOGETHER: YUK! NO WAY!
[They all sit proudly, then bored with elbow on knees. GREENSHIRTS having fun, sit down to rest.]
KWANZA: That sure was fun.
MARIA: Yeah! Let's play again. This time I'm it...
MAYA: Nah... Let's play something else. How about
baseball...
ALI: But we don't have enough kids to play...
WEI-LING: We could ask THEM.
MARIA: No way, Wei! THEY'RE BLUESHIRTS!
GREENSHIRTS TOGETHER: YUK! NO WAY!
[They all sit proudly, then bored with elbows on knees.
Two groups look over at each other, but refuse to get up.]
JOHNNY: [whispering to KWANZA] Hey, you want to
play baseball?
KWANZA: Sure!
JOHNNY: Hey, guys. Why don't we play with THEM
... Just for today.
IVAN: Huh? Well. Maybe just this once. But that's
it!
[Two groups get up, start talking, start playing, laughing
and cheering]
SONG : DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME
IVAN: It was so much fun playing baseball together.
You guys want to come over and play war with us for a while...
MARIA: No thanks. I... I don't like guns. My cousin
got hurt in her neighborhood because of a gun.
JOSÉ:
Aw, come on. These are just toy guns. Nobody gets hurt.
KWANZA: It did look like they were having fun...
ALI: Guns ARE pretty serious. In my country there's
a war going on. Even kids carry REAL guns. Guns are hurting a lot of people.
WEI-LING: Gosh. It's kind of scary when you
think about it.
JOSÉ:
It's exciting on TV... but I wouldn't ever want to see anyone REALLY get hurt...
JOHNNY: Wouldn't it be wonderful if no guns were
fired anywhere - between countries, or in our neighborhoods.
WEI-LING: Why don't they just do it. Stop fighting I mean.
MARIA: There are just so many guns in the world.
JUANITA: And people don't respect each other enough...
AMIR: or the earth...
KWANZA: Has there ever been a time when the world
stopped fighting ... even for just ONE DAY?
MAYA: I've read a lot of history books. They're always about wars.
About one country taking over another. Or one group of people hurting another
group...
ALI: I'll bet you won't find any kids started
those wars!
MAYA: You're right! So, maybe kids could get together
and help bring World Peace. Even for just ONE DAY. Then they'd see what peace
is really about ... that it starts with how we treat each other, every single
day.
MARIA: And once there was ONE DAY of peace, we could work together
to KEEP peace on earth, one day a time.
ALI: It sounds great, but who will listen to us?
We're just kids! Adults think they know everything!
WEI-LING: Our mothers will listen to us.
MAYA: Maybe our fathers will, too.
MARIA: And our families and our relatives...
AMIR: And other kids. They'll listen.
KWANZA: But how could we do it. How can we bring
a day of peace?
JOSÉ:
We'll get on TV...
IVAN: We'll announce it on the radio...
WEI-LING:
We'll write a letter to the President!
JOHNNY: Maybe we could ask the United Nations
... Then the whole world would know about our idea of ONE DAY IN PEACE.
JUANITA: But what day should it be?
ALI: Wait a second,
guys, I think there already is a United
Nations Day for peace on earth...
MARIA: You're right, Ali! I remember when we went on a tour of the United Nations, we heard about The International Day of Peace. I think it's in the fall...
AMIR: Right, it's September 21! They've had the International Day of Peace for years, but not many people have really even heard about it..."
WEI-LING: What if
we get kids all around the world to help make this September 21 the biggest
Peace Day ever!
ALL TOGETHER: Great idea!
EVERYONE: Let's do it!
SONG: KIDS CARE!
NARRATOR: And so that's how it started.
MAYA: At my school we had an International Day
of Peace poster contest.
[kids step forward with posters]
KWANZA: My school had an essay contest. Newspapers
all over town featured our essays.
AMIR: My class started a WORLD PEACE CLUB. The whole school got involved.
We wrote letters to the leaders of the more than 191 countries throughout
the world.
MARIA: We set up a webpage on the Internet.
JUANITA: People of all ages wrote to us from all
around the world.
JOHNNY: My dad and I went to our town meeting and asked our mayor to
declare a Proclamation of Peace for September. When the Mayor did it, we were
on the front page of our newspaper!
JOSÉ:
Our whole class wrote a letter to our Governor, and she signed a Proclamation
for the International Day of Peace! We even got to visit the State Capitol!
IVAN: All around the world ordinary people convinced
towns, cities, states and nations, universities and institutions, celebrities
and organizations to sign Proclamations of Peace for September 21 ...
WEI-LING: And the Countdown to the International Day of Peace is helping people realize that every day counts.!
NARRATOR: The Countdown to Peace is a great
time to help people think about peace all year round ... on Martin Luther
King Day, Earth Day, United Nations Day and Human Rights Day ... every day!
People of all ages all around the world are helping to make this September
21 the greatest day of peace ever. But remember, peace starts with each of
us..."
KWANZA:
In our hearts.
JUANITA: In our families.
ALI: In our communities.
AMIR: Peace is about treating each other with
respect...
MAYA: And taking care of the earth...
NARRATOR: Together we can help convince the world
to live in peace for ONE day on the International Day of Peace. After that
ONE DAY of peace, we'll work together to help peace stay, one day at a time.
Every one of us can make a difference. Think about what you can do to help
share the spirit of peace, on the International Day of Peace, and every day
of the year.
EVERYONE: May Peace Prevail On Earth!
ONE DAY IN PEACE song
Read
the online
picture book,
The International
Day of Peace
September 21
by
Steve Diamond &
Robert Alan
illustrated by Ginger Nielson
