Adult Christmas

28 pages

3 m, 4 w.

Kyle is bringing home his fiancee, Katie, a very religious young woman, over Christmas and the Murphys dread it. Talk about a damper on the holidays. Grandma won't even be able to eat her rum balls in peace! When Kyle and Katie start talking about the rapture, the adults exit fast. Soon the young couple take the other children outside to see the snow. At that moment an unexpected power outage hits and in the dark, empty house, the Murphys think the rapture may have actually happened!  Performance time: 30 minutes.

26 pages

2m, 3w, 1 girl

It is a snowy Christmas Eve at a lonely roadside diner. Hope, the owner, and Darla, a waitress, are working the evening shift, anxious to close up and get home. But late-arriving customers need food to warm their bodies and faith to warm their souls. Rusty, a quiet truck driver, arrives first, followed by Meredith, a depressed homeless mother with a young daughter, and finally Randall, a brash, arrogant young man who's been traveling for a while. When Rusty convinces Meredith to get a fresh start through his outreach ministry, his unassuming act of kindness a...

29 pages

4 m, 5 w

The kids are coming home from college and the Air Force so Marsha Givens wants this Christmas to be perfect. That's why she's un-invited the lonely neighbor, who usually spends the holiday with them, and even told the minister they won't attend Christmas service. But everything goes haywire when Grandma and Grandpa (without his hearing aid!) decide to visit and the kids each bring extra guests, one of whom has never been to church. It's chaos and comedy as Marsha finally discovers what really makes a perfect Christmas. Easy living room set.  Performance time:...

20 pages

3 m, 5 w, numerous extras, choirs, optional pianist

Convinced that God doesn’t really care about the elderly, 84-year-old Beatrice has become the resident Scrooge of her nursing home. No matter what her roommate says, or what Bible stories the expectant nurse’s aide reads, Beatrice is adamant. “God doesn’t care about the elderly. His supposed only Son didn’t even live past 33 years, so how does He know what it’s like to be old!?” she declares. But during a church service she reluctantly attends, she falls asleep and dreams of bits and pieces of the Christmas story she is hearing, scenes of the nativity involvi...

36 pages

2 m, 7 w, 3 boys, 2 girls, optional extras.

Two ladies in a rest home are arguing. Florence, who has never had a real family Christmas, fantasizes that a family would come along and take her in for the holiday, but of course no family would put themselves out that way. Yes, they would, says her roommate Myrna who has had years of storybook Christmases with her five children. To prove their differing viewpoints, they invent the fictitious Genevieve, a little old lady in a rest home near Myrna's children in Idaho. If one of them will agree to take “her” in, Florence will really believe in Christmas. Dram...

48 pages

3 m, 6 w, 13 flexible, 14 or more kids

Starlight Inn, a small, quaint hotel with a lot of charm, but not a lot of guests, is struggling to make ends meet. In fact, business has been so bad that on this snowy Christmas Eve, Emily, the owner, has decided to finally break the bad news to the staff: The inn will be sold to a local condo developer and torn down. As they lament the impending doom of their beloved hotel, a major snowstorm hits, forcing travelers to seek shelter. Suddenly, the hotel has several guests: a newlywed couple; a Hollywood diva and her entourage; a traveling church choir; a rock...

36 pages

5 m, 4 w, 2 flexible, 1 child, extras, doubling possible

What do a robbery gone wrong, a case of mistaken identity, and a small church’s Christmas program all have in common? For thief Collin Evans, the opportunity to change his life. Collin and his brother-in-law Tim rob a toy store, and in desperation Collin has to hide the money in a nearby church—ironically in the manger for the upcoming play. The director mistakes Collin for a substitute actor and he must play along. But for this young father, angry since his wife’s unexpected death, a change begins to happen as he talks with the pastor and feels the warmth an...

36 pages

4 m, 5 w, 3 flexible, 2 children, extras

The mission/soup kitchen is in financial trouble, and one of the biggest donors wants to find out what’s really going on there. Wealthy Ms. Witherspoon decides to send her personal assistant in to investigate, discreetly of course. What she finds out is so shocking that Ms. Witherspoon herself must go in, disguised as a street person, to see if her past has entered the present. The shelter director and his faithful assistant, both of whom are deeply committed to Christ and the mission, are totally unaware of the unfolding events and are praying for a miracle ...

26 pages

5 m, 5 w, 2 flexible, 1 girl

It's Christmas Eve and Jonathan is looking forward to a quiet family celebration with his wife Michelle and daughter Cissy. This idea comes to a screeching halt when, unbeknownst to him, Michelle invites his mountain family to come down for the holiday. These good folks turn up bearing, not only gifts, but a rocking chair (for Pappy's sciatica) and a live turkey for Christmas dinner. When another high-society guest shows up unexpectedly, the mountain folk eagerly pitch in to help. After all, that's what family is for. Unfortunately, their backwoods ways raise...

19 pages

Gender-flexible cast of 12 (with ensemble opportunities)

It’s the greatest story ever told! Well, sort of…. Grade school student Miley accidentally ends up at the annual meeting of the Bethlehem Animal Historical Society. The animals are retelling the story of a miracle night witnessed by their ancestors thousands of years ago in Bethlehem. Only, as they begin to act it out, Miley realizes they may have some of the details and focus wrong. Can Miley help them understand the real meaning and importance of that fateful night?  The animals are shocked to find out the peacock is not the star, the donkey doesn’t win a m...

46 pages

2 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, 1 optional

   Detective Vic Torious is called to Pine Valley Church by their secretary, Barb Dwyer who reports the church’s historic, antique grand piano missing! Key members of the congregation (aka suspects!) arrive at the request of the detective. Was it Barb Dwyer herself, who may or may not be a piano player and perhaps may want to frame someone else? Or maybe it’s the new pastor, Rev. Oliver Sudden. Little is known about him.

   Perhaps it was Frieda Livery, a truck driver who makes deliveries almost daily, or Anne Tickwitty, a...

40 pages

8 m, 8 w, 1 flexible, 1 child.

This is the first Christmas Tim and Lisa have ever spent with both of their families together under one roof. It could be explosive since Tim's upper income family objects to his marriage to Lisa, who comes from a religious farm family. There are plenty of tense and hilarious moments that put the young couple's marriage to the test. Besides the obvious friction between the parents, a nosy neighbor and her henpecked husband are on the lookout for any signs of crime, and eccentric Grandma and Grandpa arrive having just escaped from their nursing home. Then add ...