 THE
SEE-SAW TREE looks at an important environmental issue in
an entertaining but thought-provoking way.
The
See-Saw Tree, an ancient oak, stands on ground which is ear-marked
for development into a children’s playground by Mr.
Jay, owner of the nearby supermarket. A public meeting is
called in the village hall to discuss his proposals, which
include cutting down the three-hundred-year-old oak tree.
The
audience vote in favour, but Mr. Bunn, an environmental activist
protests and shows us the devastating effect such plans will
have on the inhabitants of the tree – the main part
of the play tells the story of these creatures (who can be
played by their human equivalents), their panic and their
resilience and their evacuation from the tree. In the end,
the audience is asked to vote whether the See-Saw Tree should
be saved or not.
 David
Wood writes : At the beginning of the play, the audience becomes
a public meeting to discuss the future of the patch of waste
ground on which the See-Saw Tree stands. Because the idea
is to transform it into a children’s playground, the
audience vote for the development.
It
was always rather moving to witness how, by the end of the
play, the audience completely changed its mind, having seen
the effect that the cutting down of the tree would have on
the creatures that live on it, and reversed the earlier decision.
I
wrote several different endings for the play, but at every
performance the tree was saved!
|
The
play was first published by Amber Lane Press