By Kristin Scheer
Look for street theater at the PeaceWorks KC Local Art Fair this weekend. Cris Mann, Ann Suellentrop, Tommy Indigo, and Kristin Scheer, who all serve on the PeaceWorks KC Board, have established a thespian team. We call it MO Peace and have been practicing with a skit that Tommy wrote.
The skit asks how the US can justify its own military bases, calling them deterrents to war (there are over 800 US bases around the world), yet challenge the military bases of other countries as dangerous and threatening (there are less than 100 by all other countries put together). “Good grief!” says Tommy in the skit. “Will you finally just tell me why Cuban missile bases are like Adolf Hitler, but American military bases in Ukraine are all puppies and rainbows?”
The skit “looks at issues of war and peace and calls into question our forever wars,” says Ann Sullentrop of MO Peace. “The skit is a way to reach people on the street in a fun, provocative way.” She points to our high murder rate in the US as evidence of our “militaristic, violent culture” and suggests that it is important to challenge people to think about this in an unexpected and different way. “The skit is fun,” she says. “It makes people laugh, and when people are having fun, you can reach them in a disarming way.”
Cris Mann says of the skit, “It’s a conversation starter. How is it that war is always the answer, and what kind of world do we want to live in?” She’d like to see our team grow. “We’d love to have more actors and more talent to work with,” Cris says. “Our skit is fun and unleashes creativity that the world needs.”
Reach out to Tommy@peaceworkskc.org or Cris@peaceworkskc.org to find out about upcoming performances and how to get involved. And look for us at the PeaceWorks KC Local Art Fair this weekend. We’ve already performed a few times at the Crossroads.
