At Great Escape, we have opening and closing ceremonies, and we perform some skits.  All of these are adapted from traditional skits and ceremonies posted on the Internet by members of the Scouting community for use by other Scouts and Guides.  Some have been adapted to suit an adult community.

 

SKIT:  A TRAGEDY OF THE FAR EAST

CAST: KING OH MY, QUEEN GOODNESS, PRINCE WHAT AH, PRINCESS BLOOMING, GARDENER PONG, NARRATOR

SPEECH: ON HEARING ONE’S NAME REPEAT IT – SAY, ME OH MY, ME PONG AND SO ON.

DRESS: JAPANESE STYLE : KIMONO, FAN, PARASOL, GARDENING GLOVES, TROWEL, STRAW HAT, CROWNS.

PROPS: BOTTLE OF WEED KILLER, KNIFE, SWORD, POTTING SHED LABEL, ROSE BED LABEL.

ACTION: ONLY IN LAST PARAGRAPH AS EACH CHARACTER FALLS ON EACH OTHER.

Long ago, in a rich Eastern Kingdom, there lived KING OH MY and his beloved wife QUEEN BLOOMING. The apple of their eye was their only child, the beautiful PRINCESS BLOOMING.

KING OH MY and his wife, QUEEN GOODNESS were very ambitious for PRINCESS BLOOMING and had arranged her betrothal at the tender age of six, to PRINCE AH, the heir of a neighboring kingdom – and now, ten years later, PRINCE WHAT AH was on his way to claim his bride. This did not please PRINCESS BLOOMING one little bit, for she was in love with the palace gardener, PONG and what is more, GARDENER PONG was also in love with PRINCESS BLOOMING.

GARDENER PONG was very sad because he knew that very soon his beloved PRINCESS BLOOMING would be leaving the land of her birth and going with PRINCE WHAT AH. GARDENER PONG knew he could not live without PRINCESS BLOOMING and decided to put an end to his life. He crept into the potting shed and stole some of the quick acting weedkiller which had just been ordered by KING OH MY, drank some, and died instantly. His body lay in the rose bed among the favorite flowers of PRINCESS BLOOMING. Meanwhile PRINCESS BLOOMING, sitting in her room in the palace, could no longer stand the sight of all the preparations being made for the arrival of PRINCE WHAT AH so she went for a walk in the garden, hoping to see GARDENER PONG once more to tell him of her undying love and to say goodbye. Of course she saw the body of PONG and knew at once why he had done this terrible thing. She said, “If my beloved PONG cannot live without me, then I cannot live without him.” Then she too crept to the potting shed , stole some of the weedkiller ordered by KING OH MY, then lying down so that her body covered that of PONG, she too took her life.

PRINCE WHAT AH had by now arrived, and , eager with longing to see his beautiful bride, PRINCESS BLOOMING, he strolled into the garden and came across the bodies of GARDENER PONG and PRINCESS BLOOMING lying in the rose bed. Now PRINCE WHAT AH could not return to his kingdom without PRINCESS BLOOMING. Just fancy, PRINCESS BLOOMING had preferred GARDENER PONG to himself!! So, he drew forth his knife, which he always carried in his belt for such occasions, and killed himself – throwing his body on top of PRINCESS BLOOMING, who was on top of GARDENER PONG.

KING OH MY and QUEEN GOODNESS were beginning to get impatient for the return of PRINCE WHAT AH and PRINCESS BLOOMING, so off they went to look for them. What a sight met their eyes!! The rose bed was ruined!! Now he could not show his prize blooms in the Rose Exhibition. This was unbearable. KING OH MY quickly drew his sword, smote QUEEN GOODNESS, who fell on top of PRINCE WHAT AH who was on top of PRINCESS BLOOMING – on top of GARDENER PONG. Then he killed himself and fell on top of QUEEN GOODNESS, on top of PRINCE WHAT AH, on top of PRINCESS BLOOMING, on top of GARDENER PONG.

Thank you for your applause. Our players will now introduce themselves to you once more.

OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A BLOOMING PONG!!! Each person says their name along the line.

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( have prepared beforehand a bunch of sticks (may be spray-painted silver or gold, enough for one for each participant, plus enough sayings about friendship for each one.  Or, if doing it outside, seed the area with enough sticks.)

Once, a group of friends were having an argument. They made so much commotion that Sally, the older sister of one of the girls, came over to see what was the matter. She listened quietly as each one accused the other. “She’s not being fair”, said one. “It’s my turn”, said another. “No, it’s my turn”, said another.

As Sally listened, she began to stoop down and pick up some sticks that were lying on the ground. Finally, the friends grew quiet, watching her. Sally gathered all the sticks together in a bundle and tied it with a string. She handed the bundle to each girl. “Can you break this bundle of sticks?” she asked. Each girl, in turn, tried to break the bundle, but not one of them could

Then Sally untied the bundle and separated the sticks. To each friend, she gave one stick. “Now”, she said, “see if you can each break a single stick.” Of course, the single sticks snapped in two with only the slightest effort.

“We are like these sticks”, Sally said. “Each one of us, standing alone, is weak. Each one of us can be broken as easily as a single stick. Yet, all of us, working together, can be as strong as this whole bunch of sticks – so strong that nothing can break us.”

(Each participant comes forward and picks up one stick. Then, she reads a little saying about friendship and friends – some examples follow)

• More precious than silver and gold are friends – both new and old
• Friendship is one mind in two bodies
• A friend is someone you can trust
• The only way to have a friend is to be one
•  ”What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies.” – Aristotle
• “The friendship that can cease has never been real.” – Saint Jerome
• “I count myself in nothing else so happy
  As in a soul rememb’ring my good friends.” - William Shakespeare
• “I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man’s milk and restorative cordial.” – Thomas Jefferson
• “Sir, more than kisses, letters, mingle souls, For, thus friends absent speak.”
  - John Donne
• “Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend Unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end.” - John Boyle O’Reilly
• “Friends have all things in common.” – Plato
• “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” – Aristotle
• “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” – Henry Ford
• “What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”
• “No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.” – George Eliot
• “It is a sweet thing, friendship, a dear balm,
  A happy and auspicious bird of calm…” – Shelley
• “The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away.” – Wilson Mizner
• “The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters.” – Thomas Jefferson
• “One can never speak enough of the virtues, the dangers, the power of shared laughter.” - Francoise Sagan
• “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” – Kahlil Gibran
• “There is magic in the memory of schoolboy friendships; it softens the heart, and even affects the nervous system of those who have no heart.”
  - Benjamin Disraeli
• “I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don’t believe I deserved my friends.”- Walt Whitman
• “True friendship is never serene.”- Marquise de Sevigny
• “When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance.” – Anatole Broyard
• “Friends are born, not made.” – Henry Adams
• “This communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joy, and cutteth griefs in half.” – Francis Bacon
• “Do not save your loving speeches
  For your friends till they are dead;
  Do not write them on their tombstones,
  Speak them rather now instead.
  - Anna Cummins

(Speakers return to their places with their sticks. The leader then goes around and picks up each stick placing them into a bundle and tying them securely. “Now we are one strong group working together”)

All: Sing “Linger””)

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All: (The Conservation Pledge) I pledge to save and faithfully defend from waste the natural resources of my country – its trees, its soil and minerals, its forests, waters and wildlife.

All: Sing “This Land is Your Land”