Adult Christmas

30 pages

2 m, 5 w, 3 children.

Grandma likes to follow tradition at Christmas and that means having the whole family over at her house for presents, turkey, and carols around her organ. So when unexpected visitors become stranded at her home and the organ won't play a note, Grandma thinks the holiday is ruined. But the Christ Child brought the first Christmas to all of us, and on this night, three other young children bring it back to Grandma's. Performance time: 30 minutes.

35 pages

2 m, 4 w, 1 boy, 1 girl.

The Christmas manger scene that James Bradbury put up for his children's pleasure five years before has become a neighborhood tradition. It is the WHOLE of Christmas to young Oliver. This year, family conflicts and a death on the street have quenched the Christmas spirit. Father believes it best to forget the usual tableau. But when Ollie makes a sign to nail across the empty shed, the people on the street realize that they all need to get closer to the "grown-up" Christ who came to help. Realistic and touching with a message to make Christmas joyful. Perform...

16 pages

7 m, 10 w, extras.

Each Christmas season an eccentric philanthropist disguises himself to bestow a reward on some worthy recipient for outstanding moral characteristics. This year, disguised as a beggar in the city park, he encounters some colorful characters such as Disco Danny and his Dancing Dolls, who are much too intent on their careers two society ladies who deceive themselves that they are contributors to charity a thief with a smooth tongue and a coat lined with stolen watches the Sweet Singers of Charity and finally Harriet, who gives of herself completely to the orpha...

28 pages

2 m

Something is wrong with Melchior, and it is driving Balthasar insane. Ever since Melchior went to see the baby, he has changed. After a long journey with his fellow magi travelers, Balthasar wants to experience what happened to his friend as he impatiently waits for the third companion to finish meeting the newborn “King.” And what could be more peculiar than the bright star shining above them against the dark night? Finally Melchior explains: “You will walk in with your gift and your prepared speech. Then you will see the babe and everything will change. It ...

36 pages

6 m, 6 w.

Here is a modern story of a "prodigal son" and a "prodigal father" as well. Matt McCord left home at an early age because his wealthy father, Sam, who claimed to be a Christian, was so strict. Now, years later, Matt has come home this Christmas Eve, saved and repentant of his earlier, wasted lifestyle and anxious to make peace with his family. Everyone welcomes him with open arms, but father Sam refuses - at first. But, as the family points out, Sam has been a "prodigal father" wasting the love of God and his family in favor of business concerns. Together the...

29 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 girl.

Meet two families who struggle to remember Christmas without allowing "Time" and "Money" to overtake their lives. Susan and Bob, young marrieds, don't even have time to talk once a week, let alone plan for Christmas. Bob is always flying out of town on business, and Susan is involved in her job and too many other organizations. Their next door neighbor, Claude, helps Susan see the necessity to simplify their lives. Meanwhile, Claude's young granddaughter, Jessica, has written a six-page Christmas wish list. Her parents are frantic, knowing they cannot begin t...

15 pages

7 m, 7 w, 6 flexible parts.

The Spirit of Giving appears in court to prove he is the true spirit of Christmas. Using scenes from three modern homes, he exposes the ever-popular spirits of Selfishness, Greed, and Pride who try to control Christmas. Finally, Giving shows us his true spirit through the Wright family, then to Isaiah the Prophet, and finally to the first Christmas in Bethlehem. (Also non-speaking parts for nativity scene and optional choir.) Performance time: Approx. 30 minutes.

41 pages

4 m, 5 w, 1 boy, 2 girls, extras.

Hollister Day is not sure why on Christmas Eve he is keeping open his hamburger stand, Holly Day's Inn. So many of the customers are unhappy including a young, troubled minister and his wife two girls, whose parents have seriously quarreled and a battling newlywed couple. But God works in mysterious ways with those who come into the inn and they find their answers. Performance time: About 60 minutes. 

28 pages

1 m, 4 w, 1 flexible, 1 boy, 1 girl

If you’ve ever thought that Christmas has become too commercialized (and who among us hasn’t felt that as we pulled out the credit card yet again) this is the play for you. Several customers wander in to a rather bare, nondescript store during the Christmas shopping season. All of them, younger children, teenagers, and twenty-somethings, are looking for the same thing, but for different reasons. Some aren't even sure what they want: they just know that they are missing something. Naomi, the elderly widow working behind the counter, answers their questions kin...

40 pages

3 m, 2 w, 2 teen girls

Mark Kingston has been pastoring the same church for seven years. This particular year has been a stressful one. His kids want him to find a new job, his wife is trying to lead every program and ministry herself, and his congregation has an opinion about everything! One day, Mark wishes his life were “normal,” that he didn’t have the stress of being a pastor. When he wakes up, his wish has come true. Will Mark’s new life be easier having a typical job, or will he discover that his old life was exactly the way it should be? About an hour.

66 pages

6 m, 3 w, 2 flexible, extras

Heather Finley is bringing home her fiancé, Kevin, to meet her devout Christian family. There is only one problem: Kevin is an atheist! Meanwhile, Heather's bickering grandfathers, Jeremiah and Roosevelt, are returning from a failed expedition to find Noah's Ark. After the death of their beloved wives, they sought tangible proof that God is real. Needless to say, when the grandfathers and the rest of the family, including Mom, Dad, and underachieving brother Cameron, meet the somewhat condescending fiancé, firecrackers start exploding! It doesn’t help when th...

40 pages

Very fluid cast. Minimum: 7 m, 5 w.

“The Gift of the Magi” is probably one of the most beloved stories for Christmas. It, along with two other tender stories by O. Henry, “The Last Leaf” and the lesser known “Christmas by Injunction,” are dramatized here, set in the framework of O. Henry’s life which in itself is a story. In the early 1900s he was one of the most widely read authors in America. O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter, was known, however, to have spent some time in jail for allegedly embezzling from an employer, and it is believed that he started writing there in ord...

20 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 1 girl

Ted and Jane are hosting Ted’s mother and sister for Christmas. As they share memories of their childhood home (acted out live) it becomes clear that their perspectives about the past are very different. An on-going “falling off the ladder” gag adds to the laughs. Finally, Mom presents them each with a DVD featuring their old home movies. As they watch it together, the realization that perhaps they each had things better than they remember brings a lump to the throat and an appreciation for the value of family. Performing groups can be as creative as desired ...

23 pages

6 adults, 2 children

The angel Gabriel has enough on his mind with lining up the Savior’s birth. He’s appeared before Mary, arranged for the Heavenly Hosts, and even ensured it will be a clear night for Jesus’s birth. All he needs to do now is figure out a plan to notify the whole Earth about the birth of the Christ child. Suddenly, Adele, Lyric and Rachel burst into Gabriel’s office complaining about the two hooligans. Hark and Harold are at it again, screaming like banshees rather than singing, creating an unexpected meteor shower, and running off to create more shenanigans. Wh...

54 pages

4 m, 3 w, 6-7 flex, 2 kids, doubling possible

Did the Nativity costumes just come alive? Pastor Hadley doesn’t know what to think when he is washing the Nativity costumes and the first sheep pops out of the dryer. Granted, he hasn’t been doing well after the recent loss of his fiancée, taking a leave from his ministry and turning away from God. Last night’s church fire just proves that when it rains it pours. Maybe that wasn’t a sheep he saw…but then out of the dryer comes Amir the Sheep Shearer and Jesse the Angel. Turns out the dryer is a time tumbler, and time and prophecies once fulfilled have been a...