Title: “Respect for Differences”
Author: Silvina Carrasco
12 Characters:
- Puppeteer 1: Gives life -voice and movement- to Raspberry puppet and Apple puppet.
- Puppeteer 2: Gives life -voice and movement- to Orange puppet and Lemon puppet.
- Puppeteer 3: Gives life -voice and movement- to Lady puppet.
- Teacher: She is the teacher of the kindergarten or preschool where the performance takes place.
- Noelia: Girl of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the kindergarten.
- Martín: Boy of 4 or 5 years old. Kindergarten student.
- Jorge: Boy of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
- Nico: Boy of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
- Male: Girl of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
- Benja: Boy of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
- Leyla: Girl of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
- Mica: Girl of 4 or 5 years old. Pupil of the garden.
ACT I
Characters that take part in this act: Puppeteer 1, Puppeteer 2, Puppeteer 3, Teacher, Noelia, Martín, Jorge, Nico, Male, Benja, Leyla and Mica.
Scenario: The classroom or kindergarten or preschool room during a puppet or marionette show: a frame or structure for a puppet show, small tables and chairs, children’s drawings glued as decoration, crayons and colored paper and toys in a corner.
In this act, the main action takes place on the puppet stage. The pupils of the kindergarten, who are sitting in their chairs, only observe the performance.
(On stage, on the frame: Raspberry puppet, Apple puppet, Orange puppet and Lemon puppet are talking. They are sad because nobody buys them).
-Lemon puppet: (Disappointed) Aaaa… All the other fruits in the fruit store have been bought and we are still here.
-Orange puppet: Yes, why is it that nobody wants to buy from us?
-Raspberry puppet: (Sorrowful) I’m the tiniest of them all. I’m sure that’s my problem. I’m sure no one chooses me because I’m so tiny.
-Apple puppet: I’m bigger than you and nobody chooses me either. It’s probably because I’m too tough and I’m not juicy like you (sighs).
-Orange puppet: My problem is that I’m not sweet enough.
-Puppet lemon: Well, I’ll stay here forever. No one will choose me, for no one will want my sour taste.
(Enter the scene Mrs. puppet.)
-Lady puppet: (Singing in a good mood) Lalalalalalalalala… I’m going to prepare the perfect dessert. (Looks at the fruit puppets) But here is everything I need for my perfect dessert: the sweetness of the raspberry, the juiciness of the orange, the crunchiness of the apple and the sourness of the lemon! Perfect! I’ll take them all!
(They all leave happy and the puppet curtain closes. The children on the stage applaud).
ACT II
Characters that take part in this act: Teacher, Noelia, Martín, Jorge, Nico, Male, Benja, Leyla and Mica.
Scenario: The same scenario of the previous Act, but in this Act, the action is focused on the children and the teacher.
-Teacher: Did you like the show?
-Children: Yes!
-Teacher: Can anyone tell me why the lady needed all the fruits to make her dessert perfect?
-Noelia: Because they all had good things in them.
-Teacher: Very good. Because they all had good and different things to add to the dessert.
-Martin: Yes, because all the fruits were different.
-Teacher: Very good. And people, are we different too?
-Jorge: Yes, I’m taller than everyone.
Nico: And I’m shorter than everyone.
-Male: And I have red hair.
-Mica: And I’m black.
-Leyla: I like to draw, but my friend Ale likes to ride a bike.
-Benja: I like to play the guitar and my sister doesn’t enjoy it. She likes skating.
-Teacher: And can you imagine what the world would be like if we were all the same and liked the same things?
-Nico: Like robots.
-Teacher: It would be kind of boring, wouldn’t it? We would be like robots that look and do everything the same.
-Mica: It’s good to be different.
-Teacher: It’s very good. Even though we all have the same rights and the same value, we are people with different characteristics and we all have our own good things.
-Male: Like fruits.
-Teacher: Exactly, like fruits. We all have our own good things to contribute. That’s why we have to respect and appreciate the differences, do you agree?
-Children: Yes!
-Teacher: A round of applause for us and our differences?
(Applause.)
THE END