Three Fish Friends Play Script

Three Fish Friends is an Indian Panchatantra fable with a great moral. It asks the question, “What makes us successful in life?” Is it simply fate, intelligence or the right attitude? Shamu is a great believer in fate, he accepts everything, good or bad that happens to him. Ramu takes pride in his intelligence. He believes that this makes him superior to his other fish friends. Kamu is the youngest of the three friends. He believes that in order to be successful, one needs to have the right attitude in life. Being flexible, not complaining when things do not go his way, taking action and pushing himself each day to do better are the ways he believes he will be successful in his life. This play short fable shows what happens when each of the three fish follow what they believe in when dealing with a very serious problem.

Neha Bhatt has a Master’s degree in Special Education and has served in both public and private schools for numerous years. She is the co-founder of Kahaaniya for Kids, a storytelling company. She contributes towards script building, the overall concept, theme and delivery of the show for children in pre-school through middle school years. Neha has been performing puppet shows at in and around the city of Atlanta, Georgia. As a member and volunteer at Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Neha has been a part of their outreach program. As a mother of two, she loves telling all her favorite childhood stories to her kids and speaking in her favorite character voices to make the stories come to life.

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

SHAMU
RAMU
KAMU
FISHERMAN 1
FISHERMAN 2
NARRATOR

NARRATOR
This is a story about three fish friends – Shamu, Ramu, and Kamu. Shamu, the oldest among them, was a believer in fate. Ramu took pride in his intelligence and believed that it made him smarter than everyone living in the pond and a good leader. Kamu was the youngest of the three friends and was taught to be mindful so he loved every moment of his life and always found new ways of doing old things. He believed that in order to be successful, one needs to have the right attitude. All of the younger fish in the pond loved to listen to him and learn from him. On one fine, sunny morning, right after an early breakfast, the three friends swam close to the surface to talk.

SHAMU
(in a slow thoughtful speech) Friends, everything that happens in our life is meant to happen. Like the sun coming up every day. Like the rains bringing in fresh water to our pond. We cannot do anything to change our fate.

RAMU
I believe that if you are intelligent you can work your way out of any trouble in your life.

KAMU
I think, to be successful you just need to be present in the moment and have the right attitude. If things don’t work out your way, find another way to look at the problem. That means don’t stay helpless – take action, and most importantly, be flexible.

NARRATOR
One morning, Ramu came up to the surface and heard two fishermen’s conversation.

FISHERMAN 1
Hey, did you notice that this pond has many big fish?

FISHERMAN 2
We should definitely fish here tomorrow and sell them in the market. We will get good money for a big catch.

FISHERMAN 1
Okay. Meet me right here tomorrow at dawn.

NARRATOR
Ramu heard this conversation and ran straight to his friends to warn them.

RAMU
Hey guys, I saw two fishermen talking about fishing here tomorrow. If we don’t do something we will die. I don’t want to die.