Providing Ideas and Materials
for
Drama as Christian Worship

O Come and Adore, Baa, Sing and Roar

By Julie Marlin

"O Come and Adore, Baa, Sing and Roar" by Julie Marlin has music, humor, great flexibility, and a message of peace on earth (Isaiah 11:19). There are four main characters: an artist, a poet, a lion and a lamb. These are teen or adult parts, but not gender specific. The eight scenes, or Christmas Card views, which the poet and the artist use to illustrate the need for a peace pose, offer lots of flexibility in casting. Scenes may be cut or added as needed to enable full participation and make appropriate use of all ages, talents and gifts. The traditional shepherd scene can be cast to give lines to lots of children, and this scene also includes a place for all children to come forward and take the parts of lambs even if they did not sign up to rehearse a part. Other children's parts are interspersed in some of the other scenes as well, but as a whole this is intentionally an intergenerational pageant. Suggestions for traditional hymns are included, and some original music is also provided. But the script offers an appropriate context for a creative music director's use of available talent. Along with a clip art CD for bulletins, newsletter and poster announcements the packet includes tips for costuming and set design. Play time depends upon choices of scenes and music, but usually plays a little over an hour. This is a Wild Grace perennial favorite.

...Baa, Sing and Roar is an intergenerational Christmas/Advent pageant. It includes both traditional and original materials. A single plot, in which Christmas card developers attempt to get a lion and a lamb to pose together becomes the venue for a collection of short presentations -- some stories, some musical vignettes, some focused around the traditional biblical Christmas story, some modern day parables. These vignettes offer production advantages of flexibility, and many developed parts that do not have too many lines to learn, as well as facilitating holiday season rehearsal time. With short scenes, everyone does not have to attend every rehearsal.

... Baa, Sing and Roar was first presented in 1983 by the West Liberty, United Church of Christ -- West Liberty, Ohio. An expanded version was presented in 1987 by Greenmont-Oak Park Community Church, U.C.C. in Kettering, Ohio. This third revision has been updated for our times.

The cost for the O Come and Adore, Baa, Sing and Roar package is $68.50

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When Peace was a Baby Prince

By Julie Marlin

"When Peace Was A Baby Prince" by Julie Marlin is a retelling of the biblical Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke from the viewpoint of a flock or regiment of angels. When the full script is used, including the Prologue, the Scenes and the Epilogue, it is an intergenerational play for a cast of about 24, with some flexibility. The "Scenes" section can be done alone, as a children's pageant. The scripts are packaged in such a way to make that a workable option, with about 16 speaking parts, and a children's choir, and sheep puppet part as well. Most of the parts are not gender specific. This is a liturgical play -- a full service of worship-- including hymns, scripture, a litany, prayer and a place to include an offering. The presentation is about an hour in length. A sample bulletin is included in the packet, along with clip art on a downloadable CD. Based on the idea that participation as an actor or singer is worship, this drama package also includes Christian education materials and activity suggestions for use with the cast during the rehearsal phase of this project.

The cost for the When Peace was a Baby Prince package is $63.00

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Voices of the Living Nativity

"Ugh! Not that same old play again." The secure, homecoming feel of tradition can also feel like a worn-out shirt.

Then there is that other bugaboo. Christmas comes at such a busy time who has time to do a good job with drama?

These may sound like excuses for not doing Christmas with drama, but we can also hear them as the challenge to billow the creative spark, and make it NEW/old worthy of our special holiday time.

This play is available as a free sample.

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Wilderness Options

It is possible that, when studying familiar parables and passages, we become locked into one way of thinking or one way of hearing the familiar words. Sometimes a fresh understanding does not grow with the readerand a bible study of the familiar might be like having a map to the mall. We know it so well we stop looking. WILDERNESS OPTIONS is a series of vignettes based on some familiar passages of the Gospel of Matthew, presented by some rather odd characters. These characters may entice a thespian. But they also may open a new, unexplored pathway to the familiar words.

It is possible that, when studying familiar parables and passages, we become locked into one way of thinking or one way of hearing the familiar words. Sometimes a fresh understanding does not grow with the readerand a bible study of the familiar might be like having a map to the mall. We know it so well we stop looking. WILDERNESS OPTIONS is a series of vignettes based on some familiar passages of the Gospel of Matthew, presented by some rather odd characters. These characters may entice a thespian. But they also may open a new, unexplored pathway to the familiar words.

These dramatic vignettes are intended to be played by adult actors as discussion starters for an adult class Lenten discussion group or a bible study. You may find that they are a suitable format for use as a weekly discussion group (or a bible study group) during Lent. This was the original intention. The dramatic pieces with the bizaare characters may be used independently (not necessarily in the series) since one does not build on the other.

Each of these 6 segments includes a biblical reference, a dramatic vignette, some discussion questions, and a last-ditch brief commentary -- not intended as a sermon -- but rather to fill in the gaps if discussion is not forthcoming. These six are contained in the Guidebook.

Each of these 6 vignettes is between one and three pages long, and involves a GUIDE -- or Leader for the group, who is a character in the vignette, along with one or two other characters. The GUIDE then becomes the leader for the discussion. The GUIDE may be the same person each week, or this part may be passed around. Other than the GUIDE, the characters need to be developed and brought to life.

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The cost fot the Wilderness Options package is $39.50, and individual scripts are available for $7.95 each.

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From Darkness into the Light

A staging of the Easter story from John's Gospel

This play is available as a free sample.

Jake the Handyman

By Roger Gifford

"Jake the Handyman" is a series of four warm and sometimes humorous reader's theater worship events for Holy Week. Pastor Gifford uses the clarity of simple, modern conversation to tell the story of the Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, the last supper with the disciples, then Jesus' death and resurrection. These plays are set in the backstreets of Jerusalem, though the conversation could be any street, any town. In this telling of the Passion the biblical, historical story happens in the background while all of us at worship are invited in, empathetically, through the back ally of Jake's human experience of redemption.

Each of the four plays may stand alone, or may be used as a series that suits the traditions of your congregation or community. The Good Friday play was originally done as a community-wide worship service in a central Indiana town, and the Easter play was presented as a church cantata using familiar hymns. But this package has more creative possibilities for you to discover.

The production calls for three adult actors/readers in addition to the traditional leaders of worship. The acting parts are clear and fully developed so an experienced cast might find it possible to prepare a high quality production with only a little rehearsal time to fine-tune cues and timing. With a director's vision this may also be a solid piece for beginning actors.

Would you like to see some sample dialogue?

The cost for the Jake the Handyman package is $39.50.

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The Withered Tree

By Julie Marlin

This is a liturgical drama based on the Passion Story in Matthew. It is intended as a worship event, and includes hymn suggestions, congregational responses, prayer and scripture. There is no single actor portrayal of Jesus or God in this. However, a speaking chorus is used to give voice to the Diety when needed, and production suggestions include the use of a person offering in dance or mime a portrayal of the crucifixion. Also, at the end, a person may be used as the gardener, symbolizing a resurrected Christ. Some of the characters are based on people named in the gospel. And some are added, or assumed to have been there. This allows room for some very human, even humorous characters to emerge. So why put humorous characters in a passion play? The Gospel of Matthew is about the people who were the early church. It is also about how churches work -- then and now. It is the story of that which is holy totally enveloping our little profane, human designs, and letting holiness escape into the streets and touch all people. Sometimes that brings us human beings to tears, and sometimes we can laugh at ourselves.

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Jake the Handyman -- Easter

By Roger Gifford

A New Day Broken For You

By Julie Marlin

This worship event is useful as an Easter Dawn service and is appropriate for youth, adult or a multi-generation cast. It offers an array of characters who bring to the worship setting bits and pieces of the stories leading to the Easter experience of growing to fit into a new day. When all have brought their broken pieces the collection of items includes things like an egg shell, a loaf of bread, some broken commandments, an alabaster flask, a table and so on. In the end, the empty tomb is discovered anew. (11 acting parts for teens or adults in which at least 3 are female roles, and at least 5 are male) Playbooks may be purchased individually.

The cost for the A New Day Broken For You package is $25.00, and individual scripts are available for $2.95 each.

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