The Play's the Thing...

Wherein We'll Capture the Conscience of the King!

Since the late 1990's, I have written many, many skits and plays for production in our church in San Diego. These have been almost universally well-received, which has been the source of much satisfaction and happiness over the years. I am proud to offer my collection of scripts here, for you to read and enjoy, or use in your own church if you wish.

If you do use a script, please, by all means, email me and let me know! I certainly won't require anything from you except a quick note, so that I can wish you the best and offer my help in any way, if you wish. I just like to know how far out there somne of my scripts are getting. Many of the Christmas scripts have already been posted on Dramatix.org, and for the past few years, I have been receiving emails from all over the world, with news of how they are being used. It's a cool feeling to know that something you've written has been translated into other languages...

In any case, here they are:

 

PLAYS:

  • Shift: Three siblings gather together for their annual NewYears' Eve game of Shift, a board game that centers on Christian themes. One of the siblings comes into the game a bit restless spiritually, and God uses the game to help her break through on several fronts.

 

  • The Gold Cross: The Gold Cross is a play about man’s tendency to fail to recognize things of great value. This play follows a golden cross as it changes hands from the family that once owned it, through many hands that don’t realize it’s worth (thinking it a simple cheap cross) and ultimately into the hands of a small church’s nativity play, where it is included as a prop among the gold offered at Christ’s birth by the wisemen. After the play, it is discovered that the gold cross is in fact a real, gold antique relic, and it provides the answer to the church’s prayers. The church is poor and is about to fold. Symbolically, the cross travels from place of honor, into obscurity and off-scouring, and back into the humility of the manger, and back into a place of honor again. The gold speaks of divinity, and the same route Jesus traveled: from the heavens, down to earth, down into hell, and resurrected again. The cross is brought directly into the manger, tying the birth and the sacrifice together, marrying Christmas and Easter, if you will. And it speaks of hope, and the general theme of mankind, who has, has lost, and has again.

 

  • The Beginning: A writer has been commissioned to write a “modernized” version of the nativity story, so that kids nowadays can understand the story better. As he wrestles with modernizing the story, he always ends up back at the original version of each scene. The idea is that in spite of his efforts, the story is best as is. The scene is the writer center stage, down front. As he works through his ideas, they are enacted (as such) behind him on the stage by the actors (costumed accordingly). It’s as though they are his imagination.

 

  • When Worlds Collide: This is a Christmas detective story. The characters are from two eras, mixed together in the same story. It is a combination 30’s era detective story, and Israel shortly after Jesus’ birth. Herod hires Private Detective James Murray to find the missing wise men. In the process of tracking down the wise men, James uncovers the much larger Christmas story, and the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Some of the characters are dressed in 30’s era costumes and others in the traditional robes of a Christmas story.

 

  • A Child Shall Lead Them:  A group of kids arrive at a museum on a school field trip. They are entering a room (the stage) that supposedly has reproductions of works by Rembrandt detailing various aspect of the Christmas story up on the walls. The “artwork” is hanging on an imaginary wall that is between the actors and the audience. Stage is empty (possibly a chair far upstage, empty), no props or costumes are needed, but some basic mime skills should be taught, since all actors will need to appear to be looking at imaginary paintings as they act.

 

  • The Nativity Is Restless: The Nativity is Restless is a 10-12 minute play for Sunday School-aged kids. It begins with three young siblings playing with a nativity set, ending with one of the kids leaving her little ballerina doll with the Nativity set as they depart. In the second scene, the nativity comes alive, and the pieces of the set try to explain the nativity story to the new comer.


SKITS:

 

MONOLOGUES: