Drama
Showing 151–200 of 202 resultsSorted by latest
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Grammar Wars 2
$18.95Add to cartBy Tom Ready. How to integrate improvisation and language arts. The original and very popular “Grammar Wars” text has been workshopped in classrooms throughout the U.S. Now a new text to answer questions about this unique and valuable technique for learning language and theatre arts. In addition to over 130 new games, the author explains productive and defensive behaviors that students exhibit in the performance of the exercises. By encouraging productive behavior, students learn performance skills as well as punctuation, grammar and parts of speech. An excellent supplement text.
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Mime Time
$17.95Add to cartA book of routines and performance tips by Happy Jack Feder. Forty-five complete mime routines for performers of all ages adaptable to audiences of different types. This book may be used as a class text or a library resource. In addition to the wide variety of routines are technique suggestions and ideas about makeup, props, staging, where and when to perform and teamwork! Routines for solo and ensemble presentation
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Introduction To Stage Lighting
$19.95Add to cartby Charles I. Swift. The fundamentals of stage lighting design. Everything you always wanted to now about theatrical stage lighting but were afraid to ask! All the basics are here in this comprehensive text for students of all ages. All of the latest lighting instruments and technical information are described in easy-to-understand and well-defined terms. The fundamentals of manipulating the key(source) light and shadow, intensity and balance, changing focus and mood and more are explained in detail with illustrations. The creative process of expressing emotion, pace and intent, as well as following cues, plots and schedules are also covered along with the production process of working with directors in rehearsal and performance. A valuable resource for anyone working with theatrical productions. Five parts: Tools and Terminology, Manipulating Light, The Lighting Process, The Creative Process, The Production Process.
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Directors Eye
$29.95Add to cartWritten by John Ahart. A comprehensive textbook for directors and actors. Can a theatre class textbook be both inspirational and informative? Yes! This holistic book on directing and acting does it all. Students will keep it as a lifelong career reference on how to make things work. Written subjectively, it’s based on nearly a half-century of teaching and directing. A text that compels involvement in all layers of creating memorable theatre. Thirty-five chapters in seven sections with assignments and convenient section summaries make a complete semester course. This text is far more than “how-to”, it’s a narrative about artistic discovery. Experientially it reveals how to jolt lagging imaginations into an ensemble of lively and invloved performers. Adaptable for use by student directors and actors from secondary to graduate level. Recommended by leading theatre educators as the text they’ve been waiting for. Sample chapters include: The Nature of Theatre, Finding Dramatic Action, Pinter Sketches, Rehearsal Rhythm, Memorization, Scenes from “Waiting for Godot”, Introduction to Style, Comedy Nuts and Bolts, Theatrical Space. John Ahart is Professor Emeritus of Theatre, University of Illinois. As Artistic Director of Illinois’ Theatre of Lincoln and the American Experience he was the subject of a PBS documentary and has received numerous citations
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Introduction To Readers Theatre
$19.95Add to cartBy Gerald Lee Ratliff. A complete textbook on all aspects of Readers Theatre for high school and college use. This contemporary text includes complete documentation of the earliest days of Readers Theatre and how it has developed into a modern art form for performing artists and lovers of literature in its many forms. It clarifies methods and techniques in adapting prose works of all types to a classroom stage. This current, more theatrical approach, utilizes much more than simply scripts and stools. It allows performers the convenience of Readers Theatre with theatrical staging as an added extra.
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Mel Whites Readers Theatre Anthology
$22.95Add to cartA collection of twenty-eight readings by Melvin R. White. A variety of stories from the pens of classical and contemporary writers, journalists and playwrights have been adapted for Readers Theatre performance in this new collection of scripts by a nationally-known authority on the subject. Sample titles include:The Taming of the Shrew, Sire de Maletroit’s Door, The Wind in the Willows and Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Included is a section defining Readers Theatre as a performance art.
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More Theatre Games For Young Performers
$20.95Add to cartby Suzi Zimmerman. Improvisations and exercises for developing acting skills. By popular demand, we offer a follow-up book of theatre games specifically for young acting students. Written especially for those who coach adolescent actors, this delightfully fresh updated workbook tells you the how, when, what and why of theatre games for young performers. Starter scenes allow first-time performers to ease onto the stage in baby steps. Spontaneity is encouraged along with etiquette and basic acting principles. The concepts of pantomime, improvisation, character development, voice and body control are all presented in game formats with exercises. Nine chapters include: Before You Begin, Preparing, Starter Scenes, Exercises, Games, Improvisation, Pantomime, Non-Acting Theatre Games and Activities, and Developing Your Program, plus an Activities Index. Anyone working with young actors will find this book exceptionally helpful.
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50 More Professional Scenes And Monologs For Student Actors
$18.95Add to cartby Garry Michael Kluger. A collection of short one- and two-person scenes. The success of “Fifty More Professional Scenes for Student Actors” prompted us to offer a new book of winning short scenes and monologs. Anyone who needs monologs and/or short two-person scenes for auditions and competitions will find this book to be a valuable resource. Designed for professional actors seeking roles in TV shows, commercial and stage productions, it may also be used by student performers who wish to work at a professional level. Actors have been using these same scenes to win roles at New York, L.A. and Chicago TV and film studios. Students in acting classes have been using them to advance their acting experience. This book is divided into two categories of scenes: Comedy and Drama. Most scenes are generic, easily adaptable for use by male or female actors. Emphasis is on believable characters, no cartoon types.
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Improvisation For Actors And Writers
$20.95Add to cartby Bill Lynn, forward by Kip King. A guidebook for improv lessons in comedy. Far more than simply an overview of improv comedy, this book helps actors, writers and comedians learn the basics as taught in all the major comedy schools. First, the do’s and don’ts of the Comedy Improv Commandments. Next, the concepts that, when understood, hit the student like falling anvils: Anvil #1: Collaboration – Working with the “Group Mind,” Anvil #2: Agreement – “Just Say Yes,” Anvil #3: Foundation – “Who, What, and Where,” Anvil #4 – “Finding the Game.” There are twenty-nine chapters in five sections: 1. Improv Comedy Schools, 2. Improv Comedy Basics, 3. Comic Character Development, 4. Long Form Improv and 5. Writing Sketch Comedy. Successful improv requires the skill of the actor, the talent of the comedian and the ideas of the writer rolled into one. This book tells how it can all be done for performers and teachers.
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Teens Have Feelings Too
$16.95Add to cartBy Deborah Karczewski. 100 monologs for young performers. A collection of original monologs for young people from eleven to fifteen years of age. The book offers characters that talk like, think like and feel like real-life kids. Each monologs runs forom one to three minutes in length. The individual monologs are perfect for acting exercises or audition pieces. Mixed and matched, they may be combined to make a show filled with moments both humorous and profound. Any young person will relate to the topics of these monologs. The monologs are divided into four sections: Girls Humorous, Boy Humorous, Girls Serious, Boys Serious. Sample titles: Butterfly, Braces, Report Card, Ditz, Gross Habits, Romeo, Prejudice, Two-Faced, Myths, Panic, Con Artist, Too Short, Piercing.
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50 Great Monologs For Student Actors
$14.95Add to cartA workbook of comedy characterizations for students by Bill Majeski. These are professional-level comedy monologs, but they can be easily performed by talented high-school actors.Most of all the characterizations can be effectively performed by either sex. The emphasis is on comedy and social satire. Nothing is sacred, yet all monologs are within the boundaries of good taste. In most instances, the monologist is making fun of his/her own dilemmas of everyday living. Good contest material. Excellent for classroom use. Each monolog is three to five minutes long
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Day Miss Grouchy Melted
$7.95Add to cartTrying to prepare a holiday children’s program is often a stressful affair for both the youngsters, who worry about memorizing their lines, and for their directors, who tear their hair out trying to make sure everyone attends rehearsals, not to mention coordinating props and costumes. Mel Ann Coley has devised a way to lower the stress for everyone involved while still providing a meaningful experience. Her solution is in the form of a story told by a narrator, with children “acting out” their parts. This frees children from memorizing lines, makes the program very adaptable (it’s easy to add or delete characters), and allows for many ages to participate. It’s perfect for churches looking for a fun, easy-to-do resource that requires a minimum of rehearsals and few props!
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Costuming Made Easy
$19.95Add to cart1. Materials
2. Theatrical Costumes
3. Christmas Costumes
4. Storybook Costumes
5. Quick And Easy CostumesAdditional Info
A book on how to make theatrical costumes from cast-off clothing by Barb Rogers. Make your own theatrical costumes for less than a day’s rental price and make them your way without conventional sewing using patterns. Included in this book are more than 110 ingenious costume designs with photos and diagrams. Included: Princess, Prince, Clown, Devil, Witch, Medieval Lady, Elves, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Pinocchio and many more. Also costumes for leading characters in popular shows: Camelot, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, King and I, Pirates of Penzance and more -
Drama Skits And Sketches 2
$24.99Add to cartHere are 62 brand-new, youth-group-tested scripts you can use to introduce a topic with flair . . . To retell a Bible story with humor . . . To apply your lessons with poignancy. And they’re flexible, too — have fun with them as informal, no-prep reader’s theater, or rehearse them seriously for polished performances. – Scripture Sketches . . . Don’t despair if your students can’t tell the difference between Beelzebub and Barnabas — the Bible will be brought to life for them as they act out scriptural episodes, stories, and passages. (And on page 6 is an index to all this book’s scripts by Bible reference. Teaching the Prodigal Son? 1 Corinthians? Exodus? We’ve got a script for you!) – Contemporary Sketches . . . Off with the togas, on with the tank tops. Here are right-now, real-life scripts for everything from event announcements (that you can tailor to your own events) to dealing with emotional scars. Thanks to the topical index on page 7, you can zip right to the script that fits your meeting. – TV Takeoffs . . . In a TV world of talk shows and sitcoms, sketches based on TV shows always kick off lively discussions. Since all these scripts are also humorous, they’re great as openers at camps and conferences, too. – Monologues . . . Does your youth group’s dramatic talent reside in only one or two students? Or do you want to raise interest in starting a drama ministry? A monologue is your ticket — one-person scripts that require little or no costumes or props, yet can be as powerful as a three-act play. – To the Tune of CCM (And More) . . . Take the music many of your students listen to, and use it for dramatic purposes! These scripts each use a song by a Christian artist (or a song whose lyrics encourage or challenge Christians).
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Littlest Christmas Tree
$7.95Add to cartUnable to find a Christmas play for their congregation that would be appropriate for all age groups, three creative members of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Slatington, Pennsylvania, collaborated to create one of their own. They wrote a play that included humor and the Christmas miracle of family love. Easy to prepare and present, this short vignette about a Christmas tree and Christ’s birth can be used and enjoyed by congregations of any size.
This play, cast in a nature setting, involves a family (two parents and three children), an angel, and 11 youth, each representing a different variety of tree. The presentation includes the singing of Christmas carols and the decorating of a Christmas tree.
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Strange Way To Save You And Me
$7.95Add to cartThis play is presented as a reading with the actors silently acting out their parts as the narrators read from the side of the stage or chancel. Accompanying the script are suggested solos and hymns for choir or congregational participation.
Requires no memorization
Minimal rehearsal needed
Ideal for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day -
Word Became Flesh
$7.95Add to cartThis 25-minute Christmas Nativity pageant tells the story of Jesus Christ from creation to present day. The birth of Christ is seen as an event with a much wider scope than an incident that occurred long ago in Bethlehem. This drama is unique in highlighting Jesus’ birth as part of the greater picture of God’s activity throughout history: in creation, in the words of the prophets, in the cross, in the resurrection, and in our world today.
The Word Became Flesh provides drama that is biblically sound, educational, and thought-provoking.
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Hear The Bells Ring
$7.95Add to cartAnyone who has used Cynthia Cowen’s resources knows that they have the following characteristics:
They are complete — everything you need is here;
They require little preparation, rehearsal, or props;
They are theologically sound and spiritually uplifting.Many churches have discovered recently that families wish to include worship in the festivities of their Christmas day. This is the perfect way to do it without requiring a lot of work.
It’s all here: call to worship, Christmas carols, litanies, meditations, scripture readings, and more!
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Whose Birthday Is It Anyway
$7.95Add to cartFor the small church that does not have a lot of time to prepare, here is an ideal Christmas program and worship service. It can be presented as part of a Sunday School program or Sunday worship service.
The true message of Christmas is spoken through the words of “the friendly beasts,” which include two donkeys, three doves, four cows and four sheep.
This program enables children to become involved in a Christmas project in which they share their Christmas ornaments and angel food cake with the congregation.
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Letters From Bethlehem
$7.95Add to cartFive monologues, in the form of short letters, take you into the thoughts and reflections of the traditional Advent figures as they share their experiences with those close to them. The vignettes may be memorized or may be presented in a modified reader’s theater format — the reader actually reading the letter aloud as it is being written.
The letters are from:
The angel to a friend
The shepherd to his family
The wise man to his court
Mary to her mother
Jesus to the childrenEach letter is followed by a hymn suggestion.
These five dramatic monologues for Advent will enrich your worship services.
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In The Carpenters Workshop 1
$13.95Add to cartAs a seminary student Jerry Eckert listened to his seminary professor, Dr. W.J.A. Power, encourage his students to realize how much of scripture is story. “Let that reality enter your preaching,” he instructed them.
Jerry Eckert became a master storyteller and began writing church members’ voices into his story sermons. The result of this involvement on the part of the congregation became a source of joy and fascination to both young and old at “sermon time.”
Have you tried preaching story sermons? If you are interested in learning more ways in which this preaching style can be used, this book will become the most useful resource in your library.
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Spontaneous Melodramas : 24 Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories To Lif
$24.99Add to cartYou know them as hilarious, boisterous skits that get kids involved, whether they’re hamming up front, or in the audience cheering for the good guys, hissing the bad guys, and getting nearly as animated as the onstage actors.
Better yet, these no-rehearsal skits are comic takes on 24 of the classic Bible stories, from Babel to Zacchaeus. Use these skits to take your students into or out of your Bible lesson-for the humor never buries the central message of the Bible passage.
Inside you’ll find 12 Old Testament and 12 New Testament stories-like these:
*The First Tongue Twister (The Tower Of Babel)
*Josephine’s Dream (Joseph And His Brothers)
*The Young And The Hairless (Samson And Delilah)
*Dave, The Wave, And The Giant Kahuna (David And Goliath)
*Dances With Lions (Daniel)
*World Serious: The Empire Strikes Out (The Temptation Of Jesus)
*Good Same, The Levis, And Judas Priest (Parable Of The Good Samaritan)
*Showdown At Tombstone (Jesus And The Demon-Possessed Man)unchurched teenagers who can’t tell Samson from Solomon, or long-time youth group kids-everyone will love not merely hearing or reading Bible stories, but doing them.
Welcome to more than a year’s worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and melodrama. These Bible-story skits are anything but solemn, but they’ll make Bible stories memorable for your students.
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Voices Of Christmas
$7.95Add to cartUsing a skillful blend of irony and humor, this work is designed to reveal the realities of Christmas-both the detrimental and the divine. Involving no scenery or props, cast members address visualized listeners as if no interruptions from other characters or changes of subject occur. Lines may be read or recited and the cast may stand or be seated on various levels. No one needs to move about, though use of pantomime is suggested in some cases.
Characters include:
* Patient — a resident of a nursing home
* Homemaker — a food-happy matron
* Shopper — a wealthy, materialistic socialite
* Sportsman — a ski enthusiast
* Merchant — a toy store owner
* Traditionalist — a sentimental Swedish-American grandmother
* Corporation Man — a heavy-drinking partygoer
* Child — a greedy little girl
* Working Wife — a frazzled victim of the Christmas rushWith a presentation time of about 30 minutes, this creative, easy- to-produce play can be used in a variety of situations and settings. It will be one of the most popular programs of the entire year.
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Born One Of Us
$7.95Add to cartThis Christmas chancel drama, used by itself or incorporated into a worship service, uses seven speaking parts (from children to adults) and takes about 30-35 minutes to perform. It is designed as a readers’ theater so that little rehearsal is needed. Included is a closing litany for the minister and congregation which provides a gripping conclusion to the drama of Christ’s birth. (Copying privileges are also included.)
The action takes place in the home of a middle-class Jewish family in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Christ. The father is a rabbi, the mother one who helps out in almost any needy situation, the daughter a dream-struck adolescent, and the son a rebellious young adult.
The dialogue builds to the point at which the daughter returns struck by heaven’s light, which she calls a miracle. Her mother explains to her (and the congregation) that the real miracle is Jesus, who on that holy night was born, one of us.
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1st Christmas Present Ever
$7.95Add to cartVersatile — “ready-to-use” — no memorization required. Just what the volunteer ordered.
This program is appropriate for Christmas Eve or any Sunday morning in Advent. Involving children of all ages and one adult, it can be used in any size church with a few participants or many. Two versions — a longer version intended for a full-length service and a shortened version to be used in place of a sermon — are also included.
Symbols of Christmas (a tree, ornaments, candy canes, a creche and more) are combined with biblical readings and brief dialogue to create a greater understanding of Christian traditions. While the narrative dialogue is being read, a silent, active nativity scene is shown to illustrate the first Christmas present ever. (Copying privileges included.)
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Reflections Of Light Ponderings Of Mary The Mother
$7.95Add to cartHere are five brief dramatic monologues that tell the Christmas story through the eyes of Mary. A suggested order of worship includes hymns, scripture and a candlelighting ceremony, but the monologues could be used throughout Advent during the lighting of the Advent candles, in Sunday school or even weekday programs.
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And Him Crucified
$7.95Add to cartCrowd: (Each person selects a phrase and repeats at random) Let him be crucified! Death! Crucify him! Let him die! Away with him!
Pilate: Why. What evil has he done?
Crowd: (At random) Let him be crucified! Away with him! Crucify him! Let him die!
Narrator 1: So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd.
Based on Matthew’s Gospel, And Him Crucified is a complete worship service in readers’ theater format. It brings the events of Jesus’ last days into the lives of your congregation. It needs few rehearsals and no costumes or experienced actors. A vivid and powerful picture of the crucifixion of Jesus is drawn from these pages. Six readers and two narrators are recommended, however you may use nearly 25 different speaking parts. The theater is part of the complete order of service, lasting about one hour.
The service includes suggested choir anthems.
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Sunday Morning Readers Theater Cycle B
$15.95Add to cartA fresh look at scripture, a new presentation of the gospel, a deeper communication for God’s truths — this is what church drama has to offer.
“Sunday Morning Readers’ Theater, B,” offers nineteen skits for use during the church year. Each skit’s performance falls between five and 10 minutes with the exception of readings for major church days.
“What I hope to do is to help people see the gospels, Jesus and the other scripture passages with new vision, unclouded by familiarity,” writes Pamela Urfer of these readings.
This series provides one more form of worship designed to unfold the meaning of the lectionary readings, either as a replacement or a supplement to the sermon. The style varies from comic to tragic and the skits are set in both biblical and modern times.
Readings include the Sundays of Advent and Lent, Christmas Eve/Day, Martin Luther King Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week selections, Pentecost Sunday, All Saints’ Sunday, and Reformation Sunday.
This is a three-book series. It closely follows the Revised Common, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic lectionaries. -
Good Tidings Of Great Joy
$7.95Add to cartCASPAR: I had a strange dream last night, and I woke convinced that we should go in a different way.
MELCHIOR: Odd that you should say that — I had a dream, too! I am convinced that Herod has no desire to worship the child — he sees him as a threat to his throne. (From “The Wise Men” drama)
Here is a collection of short Advent dramas. The series can be presented with few rehearsals and limited props and costumes. Each drama easily fits within a worship setting. For a longer service, the dramas could be combined and offered as scenes for one complete service.
This series includes:
Mary and Elizabeth — Advent 1
The villagers of Nazareth — Advent 2
Ziph the Shepherd and his Wife Jerah — Advent 3
Gabriel — Advent 4
The Innkeeper’s Wife — Christmas Eve
The Wise Men — Epiphany -
They Followed The Master
$12.95Add to cartThey Followed The MasterM gives power and vividness to the Lenten experience for participants and spectators.
Characters are carefully based on the scriptural evidence, supplemented by imaginative re-creation of what they might have said.
The plays may be performed by any size congregation. Even so, the author kept in mind small churches during her writing, saying she has great sympathy for small churches — those with limited budgets and big ideas.
Plays include settings for:
Sundays of Lent
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
EasterDepending upon the drama, characters include Mary, John, Andrew, Martha, Lazarus, Judas, Judas’ mother, Matthew, Cornelius, and a host of other familiar and not-so-familiar biblical personalities.
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Sheep Will Be Scattered
$7.95Add to cartThe Sheep Will Be Scattered is an impressive Maundy Thursday communion service. It involves the symbolic recreation of the Upper Room experience through an easy-to-create Last Supper tableau.
Members of the congregation, invited beforehand, make up the tableau.
The service focuses on the tensions and circumstances surrounding the disciples on this night. It encourages worshipers to identify with those tensions in their own faith lives.
Elements include a suggested order of service, a brief commentary, introduction of each guest at the table, holy communion, a reading from Mark (for one to three voices), and a conclusion. The reading is the NRSV of Mark 14:26-50.
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Christmas Stranger : A One Act Christmas Play
$7.95Add to cartA Christmas play with a surprise ending!
The church youth group and adult leaders prepare to practice for a Christmas program.
They anticipate a visit by the church’s new custodian, who will clean and lock up the building.
A visitor arrives, who all believe to be the custodian. The visitor begins to help with the rehearsal. With his help, the real meaning of Christmas is clearly revealed to all.
The stranger leaves. To the surprise of the cast (but not the audience) the “real” custodian finally arrives. The cast ponders: “Who was that visitor?”
This simple play is easily adaptable for any size group. No special props are rquired other than a lectern and a Bible. -
Whats The Matter With Christmas
$7.95Add to cartFour youths, rehearsing a church Christmas play, are perplexed about why everyone appears so busy at Christmas. Through a series of events, the youths learn, to their surprise, that the real meaning of Christmas is God’s gift of Jesus.
Highlights of this drama:
Easy-to-rehearse
Simple, yet powerful message
Parts for four youths, up to 10 young children and two adults
Five original songs for young singers
Complete order of worship provided
Performance time from 35 to 45 minutes -
Golden Bells
$12.95Add to cartIs the need a Christmas message, adult casts, and great themes of literature? This book offers two solutions:
The Bells of Christmas Eve takes place in Italy in 1520. In the final moment of the play, the bells ring — it is a miracle. Speaking parts for 8 persons. Performance time about 30 minutes. Church bells should ring as sound effects at the play’s end.The Golden Gift is set in France in 1820. The story is based on a scene from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It includes the familiar story of the ex-convict and the good bishop. The ex-convict takes the golden candlesticks. Parts for 10 persons. Performance time is about 30 minutes.
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Tis The Night Before Jesus
$7.95Add to cart‘Tis the night before Jesus when all through the earth,
Every creature is stirring for a new baby’s birth.
Here is a Christmas Eve service that persons of all ages will enjoy. It may easily be presented by the younger members of your congregation.
It includes a complete order of service with:
? Suggested music for children’s choir
? Hymns for the entire congregation
? Parts for a speaking choir
? A brief monolgue by Mary
? One page listing additional hymns that could be used with the service
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Gift Of Christmas
$7.95Add to cartIt is Christmas Eve. All over town people are preparing for Christmas. Amid the hustle and bustle of the night a little church is open and prepared for any visitor. For some people on this night the scene at the little church’s altar will be a lifesaver.
Here is a Christmas Eve drama in modern-day setting. It includes parts for six adults, four teenagers and seven children.
Scripture, read by a narrator, are from Luke. Three familiar Christmas carols, for singing by the congregation, are part of the drama. Performance time is 15 to 20 minutes.
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Legends Of Christmas
$7.95Add to cartThis delightful Christmas pageant includes speaking, reading, and non-reading parts for all the children in your congregation. Pre-schoolers, younger children, older youth, and their adult audience will all enjoy exploring a variety of charming Christmas legends from around the world. Familiar carols highlight each legend and involve your entire congregation in song and celebration.
Sets and props can be simple; costumes for most players consist of ordinary school clothes. Performance time is approximately 49 minutes.
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Choices
$7.95Add to cartYour congregation’s children are the focus of this spectacular service for Christmas Eve.
Traditional Christmas scripture texts are skillfully interwoven with mimed dramatizations, dramatic dialogs in contemporary language, and familiar hymns and carols in this complete order of worship.
With something for everyone to do, from pre-schoolers to high school seniors, your children — and their parents — will personally experience the joy of the Christ child’s birth — and the choices which that miraculous event gives us.
Performance Time: approximately 45 minutes.
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Of Love And Miracles
$7.95Add to cartPresent the Christmas story to your congregation this year with story, song, verse, and warmth of candlelight. This beautiful service includes an optional service of Holy Communion, suggested hymns and prayers, and a complete order of worship.
The service can be presented by the pastor alone or with the help of as many lay participants as desired. The order of worship may also be adapted for use during the Sundays of Advent.
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Shepherds Of Bethlehem
$7.95Add to cartThis Christmas Eve Candlelight Service takes your congregation to the hills and homes of Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born. Monologs by local shepherds and their families reflect on the hopes and expectations of the common people who populated that quiet, historic town. Prayers and suggested hymns combine with traditional Christmas readings and the drama of candlelight to create a spectacular and reverent Christmas Eve worship event.
Staging and costuming can be simple or complex. Includes reading parts for up to eight older youth and adults, and walk-on parts as desired.
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I Was There
$7.95Add to cartThis gripping tenebrae worship drama confronts your congregation with the powers of darkness and destruction which were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. Brief monologs by Sorrow, Fear, Death, and four other shadowy personae (presented on stage or spoken from off stage), and an eerie, dimly lit stage create the somber and mournful mood which all Christians feel on this day.
This flexible worship drama requires only a few easily obtained props — a large cross, candles, and a spotlight. Costumes are optional, and monologs can be either spoken or read. Whether presented alone or as part of a full-length service, this moving worship experience will leave your congregation prepared to fully appreciate the joyous celebration of Easter morning.
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Come Sing And Celebrate
$7.95Add to cartHere are two delightful Christmas plays for a special celebration with your parish’s children, youth, and adults.
The Night Love Was Born by Mary Jane Mulder is a contemporary re-enactment, in word and song, of the first Christmas story, set within the world of imagination — where even a cynical toy soldier can learn the true meaning of Christmas.
Originally written for participation by up to fifty children, this flexible pageant can be tailored to suit the needs and resources of large or small congregations. Staging can be either simple or elaborate, and the entire performance can be presented in forty minutes.
Angels We Have Heard on High Street by J. Richard Coyle is a modern version of the Gospel’s account of Christ’s birth, using contemporary characters who present their message in music and mime. Parts are involved for participants of all ages, and congregational involvement is required. Staging and production are flexible, and can accommodate abundant or limited resources. Performance time is also flexible.
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Light Shines In The Darkness
$7.95Add to cartThe familiar music and scripture of the Christmas season is interwoven with prayers and responses for the congregation in this well-crafted Christmas Eve candlelight worship resource. Four readers share speaking parts. Suggested music may be sung either by the congregation or by choir or soloists. Holy Communion may be included as a part of the service.
The message suggested for inclusion with the service is a powerful modern take about a twelve-year-old Salvadoran refugee named Jesus (pronouced Hay-SOOS), who stumbles across the international border into Arizona following a time of terror in his home country. In modern dress, the story focuses on the horror of King Herod’s plan to exterminate his enemies in the days of Jesus’ birth 2,000 years ago.
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Isaiahs Surprise
$7.95Add to cartWhat might have happened had the Prophet Isaiah been able to transport himself, through time, to the date of Jesus’ birth? Nancy Steltz asked that question. The result is this delightful Christmas pageant. Isaiah, wide-eyed and unsure of how his prophecies are coming to fruition, punctuates the dialog and action. Seven scenes introduce the congregation to all the familiar Christmas characters from the narratives in Saint Luke and Saint Matthew. Parts are included for children from nursery through senior high.
Scenes include:
The Annunciation
Joseph’s Quandary
The Roman Decree
Finding a Room
Jesus’ Birth
The Shepherds
The Wise Men -
Come Holy Spirit
$7.95Add to cartCome, Holy Spirit was created by a pastor in the United Church of Christ and a laywoman in the American Lutheran Church. Nevin Feather’s order of service includes rich historical background, locating the roots of the Christian festival in the Jewish harvest celebration. Complete plans are included for the construction of a Pentecost banner for use on this day. Myrtle Collins’ sermon drama, “The Treasure That Makes All Things New,” focuses upon the gifts which every member of a Christian congregation has received from the outpouring of God’s Spirit.
Breathe new life into your congregation’s celebration of the Festival of Pentecost by using this complete program in your parish year.
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Joy To You And Me
$7.95Add to cartJoseph, Jesus’ Guardian; the Bethlehem shepherds; and aged Simeon are featured in these three new Christmas worship dramas. Any of the three could provide the message for the service for one of the Sundays in Advent, or for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or a special worship time near Christmas. With the use of selected prayers and hymns, any of these dramas can provide a complete worship service.
When Joseph Doubted confronts the congregation with the turmoil with which Jesus’ guardian was faced when God gave him the task to stand by Mary and her infant son. The drama involves a cast of four.
Off-limits To Shepherds features the first visitors to the manger in a Nativity play for eight participants. The Old Torch Lighter, with three speaking parts, tells the story of Simeon, who waited in the Jerusalem Temple hoping to see the Messiah.
All three dramas are easily staged with a minimum of props.
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Darkest Day
$7.95Add to cartThe centerpiece of this Good Friday worship service is the monologue, The Ghost of Judas. Designed to be presented by the pastor or any lay-person who can speak with a sense of drama, the monologue places Judas Iscariot at center stage on the day Christ died. His reflections on his own behavior, his remorse, and his deep sense of regret and self-examination lead the worshiping congregation to search their own souls, an appropriate activity on this most profound of all Christian days.
The monologue is sermon length. If not available in local hymnals, suggested hymns may be replaced by others more appropriate.
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2 Nativity Dramas
$7.95Add to cartEither of the two dramas in this book are suitable for use as a Sunday church school Christmas program, a special Christmas season worship service (hymns may be added), or a program for a youth group or other church organization during the Advent or Christmas season. Either can be produced with simple props, and parts can either be read or recited from memory.
The Tinsel Time Machine is a charming Christmas fantasy in the style of H. G. Wells. An unlikely contraption proves capable of transporting members of a disillusioned Midwestern family to other times and places at the Christmas season.
Rag Doll Number Thirty-Seven tells the story of an aging couple who create and give away a homemade gift of love each Christmas season — a rag doll, intended for someone in special need.
