Global Casting Call Opens for Major Musical on the Future We Want
By NewsfromAfrica
A worldwide casting call has been launched for a major musical backed by Green Cross International (GCI), Peace Child International and the United Nations. The musical, entitled ”2050 - the Future We Want”, will mark this year’s 20th anniversary of GCI, the nongovernmental organization founded in 1993 by Nobel Peace laureate Mikhail Gorbachev.
The musical, which will be an updated version of the acclaimed Peace Child musical first performed in 1981, is scheduled to be staged on 3 September, 2013, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in the main Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations.
The story will be set in the year 2050, when the nations of the world have jointly overcome the major challenges facing humanity and nature, pulling the planet back from the brink it nearly toppled over due to the challenges of climate change, unsustainable development, over-consumption and conflict over natural resources, such as water and fossil fuels.
“Today sees the start of an inspirational journey to create an optimistic musical that will show how youth achieve the Future They Want,” said David Woollcombe, President of Peace Child International.
“We are seeking youth and young adults aged 18-25 from around the globe to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience – people who are not only talented performers but also concerned about solving the world’s most pressing crises.
“Last year’s record of progress in solving those crises at government level was woeful – so we are looking for youth with ideas and energy to show their elders how to achieve solutions – and the talent to present them on the musical theatre stage. Peace Child did this before, showing the world a way to extricate itself from the US-Soviet Cold War. We now need to do it again to show how the world can end the hot war humanity is currently waging against the environment.”
Mr Woollcombe said it was an honour to produce a brand new version of the popular Peace Child musical to mark the 20th anniversary of the NGO founded by President Gorbachev. “Peace Child started by giving youth a platform to deal with the most pressing issue of the 1980s: the Cold War. So it is both fascinating, and fitting, to be working with Green Cross, the organization founded by the man who essentially ended it. We need such vision and commitment to meet the challenges facing humanity and nature today.”
Alexander Likhotal, President of GCI, said the musical will use artistic language and vivid imagery to translate the problems facing humanity into a new form, that of theatre, and in doing so bring to wide attention the issues, urgency and priorities for action.
“Youth hold the key to our survival. Today’s leaders will bestow upon their children, and grandchildren, a poisoned legacy if no action is taken to address climate change and its main drivers,” Mr Likhotal said. “And we know what they are: the unsustainable economic model that governs our world, and the lack of political vision, with the proffered short-sighted ‘solutions’ surely leading us to long-term disaster.”
“But, today’s informed, wise youth need to believe that, when the time comes, they can, and must, make decisions that will ensure they, and future generations, will secure the Future They Want.”