Peace Child, The Sequel

October 30, 2007

So much happened between our first production of Peace Child, in November, 1987 and our decision to revive it in the summer of 1989. The Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. By November, 1989, the Berlin Wall would be gone, and communist domination of Russia and its satellites would be on the way out. An economy destroyed by currency crises, reduced oil prices and the failed war in Afghanistan, coupled with the pressure applied by the Reagan administration to keep an arms race going, made it tough for Russia to continue to exist without undergoing massive change. Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985, started with Perestroika, moved through Glasnost all the way to a nearly open, capitalistic society.

Even though travel restrictions were eased, and tensions seemed to be abating, the US and Soviet Union were still operating in the "Mutual Assured Destruction" mode, with nuclear weapons poised and ready to launch. This information, coupled with our unexpected success on the first Peace Child, motivated us to try it again.

We brought 15 kids from Moscow, along with 4 adults. Unlike two years before, there were no travel problems, whatsoever.

The group traveled with two adult leaders. Arsen Melitonyan was a young man in his 30's, a representative of Comsomol, the Soviet communist youth league-obviously an organization on its way out, and the closest thing to KGB that was now traveling with groups on tour to the west. Julia Klimova was his counterpart, a free-spirit, creative type who co-directed the production with me.

Arsen's job appeared to be to oversee the group, make sure that there were no defectors and assure that mutual respect was maintained on both sides. Julia's job seemed to be to drive me crazy. To say that she was strong-willed would be an understatement. She wanted things her way and when I tried to reach a compromise, the language barrier became insurmountable. In the end, I believe we both made contributions to the production concept that enhanced its effect. Paul Dieke masterfully provided the music direction and Debbie Westphal did the choreography and traffic direction, a feat of incredible organization and creativity.

We added value to the production in several ways. The rehearsals took place at Grand View College, and we opened up the student union/theatre building in the afternoons for what was called "International Peace Camp." Local young people worked side-by side with the kids from Russia on theatre classes, craft projects, and artwork centered on the theme of peace. Not content to perform only in Des Moines , we toured the production to three other venues across the state: Cherokee, Washington and Clinton. In each of these communities, the core group of 30 performers was joined by a chorus of up to 100 local kids. Our project became known as Peace Child: The Great Plains Tour. In each community, the kids bonded with their American counterparts and developed relationships that lasted far beyond the brief time they spent together.

As a grand finale, we performed the show to 1400 people at the Sylvan Theatre in Greenwood Park.

The board, volunteers and performers involved in this project created something that made a difference in terms of cross-cultural understanding and created indelible memories in hundreds of minds. Everyone felt good about his or her contribution to the change that was taking place, and we joked, for several years, that on cast member, Eric Hastings' resume, under achievements, he listed, "Ended Cold War."

My fond memories of the project include the Peace Kids singing our National Anthem, followed the Soviet National Anthem at an Iowa Cubs game. I was surprised and moved to see a stadium full of baseball fans, hats off and hands on hearts honoring the anthems of two nations, at least at this level, committed to ending their bitter and dangerous competition.

My strongest memory of the summer, however, is an event that occurred during our visit to Clinton, Iowa, and will be the subject of my next post.