3rd Camões Writng Contest

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Seven Jewish Children - a Play for Gaza

by Caryl Churchill 

No children appear in the play. The speakers are adults, the parents and if you like other relations of the children. The lines can be shared out in any way you like among those characters. The characters are different in each small scene as the time and child are different.

1 

Tell her it's a game 

Tell her it's serious 

But dont frighten her 

Dont tell her they'll kill her 

Tell her it's important to be quiet 

Tell her she'll have cake if she's good 

Tell her to curl up as if she's in bed 

But not to sing. 

Tell her not to come out 

Tell her not to come out even if she hears shouting 

Dont frighten her 

Tell her not to come out even if she hears nothing for a long time 

Tell her we'll come and find her 

Tell her we'll be here all the time. 

Tell her something about the men 

Tell her they're bad in the game 

Tell her it's a story 

Tell her they'll go away 

Tell her she can make them go away if she keeps still 

By magic 

But not to sing. 

2 


Tell her this is a photograph of her grandmother, her uncles and me 

Tell her her uncles died 

Dont tell her they were killed 

Tell her they were killed 

Dont frighten her. 

Tell her her grandmother was clever 

Dont tell her what they did 

Tell her she was brave 

Tell her she taught me how to make cakes 

Dont tell her what they did 

Tell her something 

Tell her more when she's older. 

Tell her there were people who hated jews 

Dont tell her 

Tell her it's over now 

Tell her there are still people who hate jews 

Tell her there are people who love jews 

Dont tell her to think jews or not jews 

Tell her more when she's older 

Tell her how many when she's older 

Tell her it was before she was born and she's not in danger 

Dont tell her there's any question of danger. 

Tell her we love her 

Tell her dead or alive her family all love her 

Tell her her grandmother would be proud of her. 

3

Dont tell her we're going forever

Tell her she can write to her friends, tell her her friends can maybe come and visit

Tell her it's sunny there

Tell her we're going home

Tell her it's the land God gave us

Dont tell her religion

Tell her her great great great great lots of greats grandad lived there

Dont tell her he was driven out

Tell her, of course tell her, tell her everyone was driven out and the country is waiting
for us to come home

Dont tell her she doesnt belong here

Tell her of course she likes it here but she'll like it there even more.

Tell her it's an adventure

Tell her no one will tease her

Tell her she'll have new friends

Tell her she can take her toys

Dont tell her she can take all her toys

Tell her she's a special girl

Tell her about Jerusalem. 

4

Dont tell her who they are

Tell her something

Tell her they're bedouin, they travel about

Tell her about camels in the desert and dates

Tell her they live in tents

Tell her this wasnt their home

Dont tell her home, not home, tell her they're going away

Dont tell her they dont like her

Tell her to be careful.

Dont tell her who used to live in this house

No but dont tell her her great great grandfather used to live in this house

No but dont tell her Arabs used to sleep in her bedroom.

Tell her not to be rude to them

Tell her not to be frightened

Dont tell her she cant play with the children

Dont tell her she can have them in the house.

Tell her they have plenty of friends and family

Tell her for miles and miles all round they have lands of their own

Tell her again this is our promised land.

Dont tell her they said it was a land without people

Dont tell her I wouldnt have come if I'd known.

Tell her maybe we can share.

Dont tell her that. 

5

Tell her we won

Tell her her brother's a hero

Tell her how big their armies are

Tell her we turned them back

Tell her we're fighters

Tell her we've got new land. 

6

Dont tell her

Dont tell her the trouble about the swimming pool

Tell her it's our water, we have the right

Tell her it's not the water for their fields

Dont tell her anything about water.

Dont tell her about the bulldozer

Dont tell her not to look at the bulldozer

Dont tell her it was knocking the house down

Tell her it's a building site

Dont tell her anything about bulldozers.

Dont tell her about the queues at the checkpoint

Tell her we'll be there in no time

Dont tell her anything she doesnt ask

Dont tell her the boy was shot

Dont tell her anything.

Tell her we're making new farms in the desert

Dont tell her about the olive trees

Tell her we're building new towns in the wilderness.

Dont tell her they throw stones

Tell her they're not much good against tanks

Dont tell her that.

Dont tell her they set off bombs in cafes

Tell her, tell her they set off bombs in cafes

Tell her to be careful

Dont frighten her.

Tell her we need the wall to keep us safe

Tell her they want to drive us into the sea

Tell her they dont

Tell her they want to drive us into the sea.

Tell her we kill far more of them

Dont tell her that

Tell her that

Tell her we're stronger

Tell her we're entitled

Tell her they dont understand anything except violence

Tell her we want peace

Tell her we're going swimming. 

7

Tell her she cant watch the news

Tell her she can watch cartoons

Tell her she can stay up late and watch Friends.

Tell her they're attacking with rockets

Dont frighten her

Tell her only a few of us have been killed

Tell her the army has come to our defence

Dont tell her her cousin refused to serve in the army.

Dont tell her how many of them have been killed

Tell her the Hamas fighters have been killed

Tell her they're terrorists

Tell her they're filth

Dont

Dont tell her about the family of dead girls

Tell her you cant believe what you see on television

Tell her we killed the babies by mistake

Dont tell her anything about the army

Tell her, tell her about the army, tell her to be proud of the army. Tell her about the family of dead girls, tell her their names why not, tell her the whole world knows why shouldnt she know? tell her there's dead babies, did she see babies? tell her she's got nothing to be ashamed of. Tell her they did it to themselves. Tell her they want their children killed to make people sorry for them, tell her I'm not sorry for them, tell her not to be sorry for them, tell her we're the ones to be sorry for, tell her they cant talk suffering to us. Tell her we're the iron fist now, tell her it's the fog of war, tell her we wont stop killing them till we're safe, tell her I laughed when I saw the dead policemen, tell her they're animals living in rubble now, tell her I wouldnt care if we wiped them out, the world would hate us is the only thing, tell her I dont care if the world hates us, tell her we're better haters, tell her we're chosen people, tell her I look at one of their children covered in blood and what do I feel? tell her all I feel is happy it's not her.

Dont tell her that.

Tell her we love her.

Dont frighten her.

© Caryl Churchill Ltd, 2009

Please feel free to download the play. This play can be read or performed anywhere by any number of people. Should you wish to apply for rights, please contact ruth@casarotto.co.uk, who will license the performances free of charge provided that no admission fee is charged and that a collection is taken at each performance for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), 33a Islington Park Street, London N1 1 QB. Tel: 020-7226 4114. Website: map-uk.org. Email: info@map-uk.org

Hard copies can be obtained from Nick Hern Books, 14 Larden Road, London W3 7ST. Email: info@nickhernbooks.demon.co.uk

The text must be performed as written. No changes of any kind can be made to the title or text of the play.

The Guardian

Happy Mother's Day

Mia Couto -- "Há quem tenha medo que o medo acabe"

Trailer Manhã Submersa 30 Anos.avi

WILLIAM SKAKESPEARE

ENGLISH POET AND PLAYWRIGHT

BORN : 26 April 1564

DIED : 23 April 1616

Celebration of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Cruise journey to Northern Europe

One of the most memorable journeys I've ever made took place during the Summer of 2014 when I went on a cruise ship journey to Northern Europe.

On the 12th July 2014, I, my grandmother, my grandfather and my brother boarded on a plane to Arlanda Airport, 40 km away from Stockholm, Sweden. Our flight was at 6 am and it had a duration of 3 and a half hours.

The cruise shipped out of Stockholm, heading towards Helsinki in Finland, then to Saint Petersburg, in Russia. Afterwards it set sail to Tallinn in Estonia and finally to Riga in Latvia. We stayed one day in each city, except for Saint Petersburg, where we spent two days.

I knew beforehand that it would be cold in those countries, therefore, I packed autumnal clothes and a couple of summery ones, just in case it was warm on any of those days. Before going I also did a research of each country's history.

Saint Petersburg was my favourite city due to the marvels of  all the monuments. I walked down Nevsky Prospekt - a long and commercial avenue, I saw The Winter Palace and The Hermitage Museum. I stood in The Red Square, where during soviet times it was illegal for a civillian to stand on. I also saw The Aurora Warship, which had been responsible for firing the cannon in 1917, which gave the signal to the soldiers of the revolution to invade The Winter's Palace where the tzar and his family used to live.

I loved every single day of the trip because I got to see a lot of interesting sights and monuments in different countries and I also loved the cruise ship because of all the amenities it offered. I felt incredibly blessed and happy for having the opportunity to travel this much. Today I still remember all the facts that I learned while I was abroad and I still cherish all the memories that I created.

Rita Cunha

11º B

Travelling to Amsterdam

It was seven o'clock in the morning when we took off from our home headed to Lisbon Airport. Destination: Amsterdam! We were going on a friends trip. No parents to alert you for "the dangers of the world" while travelling. Of course, you have to be careful, but do you really need to be alerted every five minutes?

I had been packing for hours. So many things to carry with me: clothes, eletronic devices, books, everything. I felt like a turtle with my home on my back. With all this in my backpack and my group of friends waiting, ready to embrace the adventure of being alone in an unknown country. The flight was the most boring part. All of us had been in a plane before and nothing was new.

Once on land, one thing stood out. There were bikes everywhere. Small and enormous ones, vintage and futuristic, for young and old people. Besides that, we visited many places. We went to Het Museumplein, which is a plaza that houses many museums like the Van Gogh Museum. It is the plaza with the "I amsterdam" in red and white sculpture. I also enjoyed myself on a little boat at the channel tour we made. It was awesome! The people seemed very nice to us but I felt like a parasite among them. I thought I was taking their space away. However, that didn't stopped us from having fun together. I had much fun too, running around from one place to another always with a camera to record every moment.

I have to say this trip was one of the best holidays I have ever had. I felt great in every single moment of our journey. All the hard work to make some funds to get to The Netherlands had been paid off. On the other hand, I would have liked to be more than five days in Amsterdam. I had thought I was going to do so many things and I ended up doing not even half of them.

Daniel Barreto

nº 7

11º C

Mountain top

It's been quite some time now, since I had a good memorable journey to tell about.

I remember this time, a few years ago, when I went to a friend of mine's summer house, and we decided to go mountain climbing. We were not well prepared, to be honest. With us, we only had a backpack with our lunch, nothing else.

All the four of us headed down to the trail on which the journey would begin. We were slightly nervous, but no fear could stop us from reaching the mountain peak.

Soon after the journey began, we realized that the trail was long gone, and we had to mind our steps very carefully. The mountain edge was very steep, and we only had some vegetation to grab on. Most of us were feeling as if we were about to fall, but we managed to get to the top.

It was a very rewarding experience overall. We had the chance to observe the gorgeous landscape, and to feel the adrenaline rush while we were climbing.

Ricardo Castelhano

nº 24

11º C

My memorable journey

One of my favourite journeys was when I went backpacking in the mountains.

I and my older cousins spent three days and two nights walking through the mountains.

Before the trip we had to do a lot of preparation. We already had most of the equipment like tents, sleeping bags and other basic things, but we had to buy food and medical supplies.
We also studied the maps and the trails because it is very easy to get lost in the wild.

The first day was amazing, but also very difficult. We saw extraordinary landscapes, plants and animals. At first, it was a bit scary to be alone in the wild, but it also felt really good to be away from the big cities and all the noise.
It was hard to walk for so many hours and by the end of the day we were exhausted and our feet hurt so much.
The night was incredible! The sky was beautiful and full of stars.
The next two days we visited the most amazing places and we also met some great people along the way.
By the end of the journey we were really tired and our legs and feet hurt so much that we could barely walk. But it was completely worth it.
It was a wonderful experience for all of us, and we will definitely do it again.

Beatriz Santos

nº 4

11º C

Should you say "me" or "I"?

Me or I?

I or me

When there's no memorable journey......

Once upon a time I went to Vietnam to meet a friend.

I packed lots of food for I didn't know if I liked vietnamese food. Also clothes and money.

I travelled alone for I didn't want anyone to go with me, but Mariana's spirit did go.

While I was in the plane I kept talking to Mariana's spirit but only I could see it, so the other people must have thought I was crazy.

I saw many, many things that I can't describe with words. I was happy all the time, for meeting my friend and spending time knowing new places and a totally different culture.

This is all an imaginary story for I have no memorable journey.

Madalena Rodrigues, 11º B

Interacting Theatre Company

KING ARTHUR AND HIS ALMOST ROUND TABLE

Movie makers:

Mariana Mota

António Tomás

Muhammad Waqas

Francisco Monteiro
11 C

On 29 January 2016 classes 11 B and 11 C went to The Auditorium Santa Joana Princesa to watch the play King Arthur and his Almost Round Table performed by The Interacting Theatre Company . Besides the contact with native speakers, the piece was quite fun and the students were called on stage to participate in the play. António Tomás performed Sir Lancelot.

InteractingTheatreCompany on Facebook

Vergílio Ferreira e Mário Dionísio - Uma lição de vida

Yesterday there was a conference in the school Old Library about Vergílio Ferreira and Mário Dionísio, as part of the celebration of the centenary of their birth. They were two teachers and writers, who were friends, but became enemies due to different political points of view. I had the privilege of being a student in Escola Secundária de Camões during my teens and Vergílio Ferreira was one of my teachers. He was The Teacher who would mark my life the most since then.

The lecturer, Maria Alzira Seixo, was faithful when she described Vergilio Ferreira's unique way of being and pulled me back almost forty years. I recalled his lessons, his talkings, the accounts of his travels, the scorn with which he criticized other writers. Thank you so much Professor Maria Alzira Seixo.

Ana Couto

(I went with my class 10th B)

Alan Rickman

SNAPE and DIE HARD

Alan Rickman dies at 69

David Bowie, Legendary Rock Artist, Dead at 69

GOING ABROAD, by Beatriz Fonseca, 11º B

I have been to Spain. The reason why it is so memorable has nothing to do with the destination itself but with the feeling of finally going abroad.
It was two years ago. In the Summer holidays, while I was spending some days in the Algarve, my parents decided to travel to Spain and to visit some places near the border. I was in Spain only for one day, and because I didn't spend the night I didn't take anything in particular.
I travelled with my parents and my sister. She wasn't so excited as me because she had already left Portugal once.
It is not what I saw or what  I did there that has stayed with me until these days, because nothing actually amazed me that much. The buildings, the beaches, the traditional shops, although I enjoyed them, I didn't see anything that was more beautiful than what I'd seen before in Portugal. It was simply that moment when I was getting out of the car and my father standing outside filming, so that he would keep that memory forever. And the feeling of stepping on foreign ground was just unexplainable, not for the action itself, but for what it meant to me. I could finally tell my friends and myself that I had left Portugal, and it felt so good to be true.

MY TRIP TO SERRA DA ESTRELA, by Mariana Mota, nº 19, 11º C

Eight years ago I went to Serra da Estrela with my sister, her husband and my niece. I was thrilled because I have always loved the cold and I had never seen snow before!
Before my journey I packed everything I thought it could be useful and that could help me during my time in the snow, like plastic bags, for example, since I had read that putting them on top of my socks would keep my feet warm and dry, and that proved to be really effective.
We travelled by car. It was a long journey but also very funny because we were all singing and giggling on the way there. I had very high expectations and I didn't want to feel disappointed once we got there, and fortunately that didn't happen.

The view was breathtaking, I couldn'y believe how high the mountains were; everything was white and I couldn't stop thinking that I might have entered Narnia, I was completely blown away.
We stayed in a little cottage near the Bread Museum and cooked all our meals at home. Local people were very welcoming and helped us with everything we needed.
We visited all the local attractions and obviously had a lot of fun in the snow, which included snow ball fights that ended up being my favourite activity during our time there.
During those days I had lots of new experiences and gained a few knowledge about living in a place like that.
Unfortunately my niece got ill and we had to come home earlier, but it still was an amazing journey and I have unforgettable memories from that time.

Another MEMORABLE JOURNEY, by Mafalda Pereira, nº 17, 11º C

Three years ago, in the Summer holidays, my best friend, her parents and I went to Sintra to get to the top of Serra de Sintra.
I was very excited, because I had just read a lot of ghost stories that happened in different spots on the hill and I have always been a fanatic and a believer of this parallel spiritual universe.
Even though I was very excited and thrilled for going on this adventure with my best friend, I was also apprehensive since I was never an athletic person at all and I get out of breath very easily.
So, I needed to go well prepared and started filling my backpack with snacks, water, clothes for a hot day as well as a coat in case it rained, a very comfortable pair of sneakers and a camera to film the whole thing.
The day came and we woke up very early and went on our way. In the car ride to the hill, I told my friend all the stories I'd read and quickly we started to see that trip as a ghost hunt, which sounds really stupid now, but we were young and impressionable and we wanted to find out the truth for ourselves.
We got there, parked the car and followed some visible tracks that led to the top. I remember feeling really at peace with myself because of the fact that we were  surrounded by Nature: the fresh smell of the trees, all the green contrasting with the clear blue sky and the only sound remaining was the wind passing through the leafs creating a beautiful scenery that I have never forgotten. I filmed most of the journey and seeing the footage now I can still relive all the happy and funny moments.
It wasn't as hard to reach the top of the hill as I thought it would be, most of all because I had great company that made the way so much fun and effortless. Half way through we even completely forgot about the "ghost hunt", we were just so amazed with the ambience itself, we were just enjoying that time together. And in the end it was all worth it just to see that amazing view at the top joined with a great feeling of completion. I was very proud of myself.