The Current Event

Props needed: chairs (enough to simulate a classroom), a sheet of paper for the presentation giver to hold

Set up: chairs on the left side of the stage facing the right side of the stage where the speaker will stand

Cast: need around 8 students (presentation giver 1, presentation giver 2, classroom, teacher)

(Begin!)

(classroom kids in the audience on stage are all clapping as one of their peers smiles and takes his seat after giving his presentation)

Teacher: Very well done Mikey! Alright, next up is Sheila. I’m sure you picked a very interesting current event. Enlighten us!

Sheila rises from her seat and saunters towards the front of the classroom holding her presentation outline (a sheet of paper) (she walks towards the right side of stage facing her classmates)

Sheila: For my current event presentation I decided to research the Chilean miner crisis. As you probably all know, 33 miners were trapped underground near the northern Chilean city of Copiapo in August 2010. They were captured in a chamber around 2,300 feet below the ground for over 2 months with no water, food, or light. No one was certain of their status until 17 days after the tragedy when cameras surfaced with footage of living miners. This situation is extremely frightening to me as it is something that could happen to any of us sitting in this room. Imagine being 12, 13, 14 years old and trapped underground with no food or assurance that you will survive. These poor children did whatever they could to live!

Teacher: Umm excuse me, Sheila, just a clarifying question, but did you say….children?

(classmates giggle)

Sheila: (smirks and replies in sarcastic/defiant tone) Yes, miners…children under the age of 18….I’ve done plenty of research on the topic. (Sheila glares at her teacher disrespectfully and continues with her presentation.)

Teacher looks at Sheila in disbelief as she continues with her ridiculously inaccurate presentation

Sheila: After months of surviving below the Chilean soil, the 33 unluckiest children in Chile were unearthed and returned to their families. To me, one of the saddest parts about this whole story is the physical changes that these children underwent. The videos of their resurrection revealed a ludicrous phenomenon. No one is quite sure how to explain the children’s transformation into middle class working men and women after only two months in the dark chamber. Whether or not these kids will even be able to resume living a normal childhood looking like 30 year olds is unknown and quite unlikely. Can we please all take a moment of silence to remember the miner’s days of innocent childhood.

(teacher throws up his hands in utter confusion and aggravation while Sheila lowers her head in seriousness)

Student: You’ve got to be kidding me.

(Curtain!)