This June, thousands from around the world, along with dignitaries like President Obama and Queen Elizabeth, will gather on the beaches of Normandy, France to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
And with them will be a small troupe of Portledge School and Friends Academy high school students, bent on slowly healing emotional WWII rifts between the three nations of France, Germany and America — and, perhaps, charting a course for future peace and reconciliation throughout the world.
Since mid-October, 12 FA students — seniors Ryan Dobrin (Westbury), Carina Goebelbecker (Manhasset), Parker Huseby (Locust Valley), Tolu Ojo (Amityville) and Cissy Shi (Syosset); juniors Alex Nagel (Laurel Hollow), Julia Newitt (Bayville) and Morgan Rielly (Plandome); sophomores Peter Bahr (Laurel Hollow), Owen Collier (Glen Cove), Olivia Fine (Centerport) and Will Schneider (Bayville); and four Portledge students — junior Koorosh Leibowitz (Glen Cove), sophomore Patrice Narasimhan (Lattingtown) and freshmen Caroline Kriegstein (Huntington) and Megan Page (Glen Cove) — have been rehearsing a tri-lingual peace play written by French director Laurence Bohec that will be performed this June in Sainte-Mère-Église (sister city to Locust Valley), in collaboration with French and German high school students. In mid-March, the French government ratified the project as part of its official 70th D-Day anniversary activities.
“Putting aside differences is at the heart of reconciliation,” said Portledge World Languages & Cultures Department Head Dr. Elizabeth Atkins, “and these young people represent not just Locust Valley and America, but the youth who will inherit the conflicts of this world.”
Consisting of two plays, the Normandy Peace Project follows a group of students from Germany, France and America in the play, “Et si on bâtissait la paix ensemble…” (“And if we built peace together…”), who return to Normandy — the place where their grandparents fought — as they attempt to unravel the horrors of the war and search for reconciliation. The second production, “The Men of Utah Beach,” shares the voice of the soldier as it recalls the historic arrival of French and American soldiers on the Normandy beaches.
“It is important for everyone to know what happened during WWII and how its events have stuck with us up until now,” explained Portledge’s Narasimhan. “I think the idea of having this play is very creative, for it not only brings together the youth of three countries that were at the heart of the conflict, it also sends a powerful message that will resonate with those who see it because it comes from us.”
According to Bohec, writing the play in three languages was meant to reunite those three countries, which played a fundamental role in the second World War, and then together deliver a message of peace and love. “It’s about healing the wounds from history and about facing the past by showing that art can cross the barriers of languages and borders,” said Bohec. “It is also about sharing the conviction that peace can only happen by working together for a better and more just world,” she added.
Before students from Friends and Portledge depart to France in late May, they are offering a one-time special public performance on Monday, May 19th at 6:30 p.m. at the Friends Academy Helen A. Dolan Center Theater. In addition to members of the Locust Valley-based Operation Democracy (an organization which has helped rekindle the ties between Locust Valley and its sister city of Sainte-Mère-Église) and local veterans who will be in attendance, students will also be able to meet Maurice Renaud (the son of Sainte-Mère-Église’s WWII mayor), who currently leads the Friends of American Veterans Association.
“It’s going to be amazing to present this performance in Normandy,” said Friends Academy Director of Arts Tracey Foster, “but even more amazing to bring these 48 students together and create an opportunity for them to understand each other, work together, acknowledge our different viewpoints and perspectives and move forward with a shared vision and goal,” she added.
