Adult Christmas

40 pages

2 m, 7 w, 3 b, 2 g + extras if desired.

Florence and Myrna, residents of a rest home in Pasadena, make up a story to test Myrna's children. Florence has never had a real family Christmas. Myrna had years of storybook Christmases with her five children who live in Idaho, but now her health needs have brought her to a warmer climate. Florence fantasizes that a family would come along and take her in for Christmas, but of course no family would put themselves out that way. Yes, they would, says Myrna, her children would. She taught them to be caring in just that way. "Would not," says Florence. "Would...

28 pages

2 m, 3 w, 2 flexible.

It is the day of Eleanor's annual church Christmas dinner for the poor and she has brought along her new boyfriend, Leo, to meet her grown granddaughter, Jane, for the first time. Jane has also brought along her new boyfriend, Bobby, to meet her grandmother. Unfortunately, they are so busy serving the dinner that the two couples do not get the chance for formal introductions. Through a series of misunderstandings, each person thinks the other is someone else entirely. Eleanor thinks Bobby is one of the homeless people while Bobby thinks Eleanor is a confused ...

32 pages

4 m, 4 w, 4 flexible, extras

Mark Nelson, an “Everyman” husband and father, has scheduled his family to participate in a live nativity, just to have them together for one night without distractions to focus on Christ and remind everyone else to focus on Him, too. But it’s tough! His wife Susan is desperate to finish shopping, daughter Jen can’t be disconnected from her friends, and Grandpa wants to voice his strong opinions! When son Kenny, er, make that Kenneth now, arrives straight from college with a whole lot of religious doubt he never had before, the family is shocked. Unfortunatel...

40 pages

18 flexible characters

The Breckenheimers are a loving Christian family celebrating Christmas with a unique hillbilly flair all their own. As our story begins, we flashback to the day Poppa delivered some very exciting news to Mama, his parents and his children Bucky, Queazy, Myra Jean and Lindy. He has just been promoted to the Assistant to the Junior Assistant Manager at the pickled egg plant owned by Garver Goobler. Poppa will even get to help Goobler with a "special" project Christmas morning. But the family's happiness is tempered by Mama's uneasiness with the motives of Goobl...

34 pages

5 m, 5 w, 3 flexible, 5 children.

It is Christmas Eve and Randy and Karen Rogers are preparing for their first Christmas at home with their new infant son and the arrival of both of their families. It will be baby Devon's first Christmas but it will not be the Christmas his parents had planned for him. Not only is this special day shaping up to be filled with bickering and hostility between the in-laws, but it will also hold an unexpected trip to the hospital. But who said Christ can't bring Christmas to an emergency room? Offset with the humor of the Fink brothers, a couple of goofy neighbor...

24 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 boy, 2 girls.

Overworked and over-committed, Jim and Mary McIntyre are frazzled! Their three kids are acting up and they've got a thousand and one things to do at the church for Christmas. Instead of feeling the joy of the season, they're feeling resentment. Enter Mason Angel, a stranger whose car broke down at just the right time and just the right place. Taken in by the kind family, Mason shows them the perfect peace they all seek. He reminds them that serving the church is not the same as serving Christ, the Savior, who died for us. By following their individual calling...

36 pages

4 m, 5 w, 1 flex, extras

Since they were knee high, Dill Mickle and Phil Slaw, now brothers-in-law, have dreamed of being the grand marshals of Crabshore, Maryland’s Christmas Crabtacular. The honor of grand marshal only goes to the fisherman who catches the biggest crab. Gladys Leech has won for the past twenty years! But Phil is trying something different this year, a new tactic. He is going to use faith as bait. (Just like the catch Jesus netted on the Sea of Galilee!) Dill has doubts, but Phil ends up catching a crab of ridiculous measure. They end up beating all the odds to beco...

35 pages

Large, flexible cast.

From the original story by Leo Tolstoy. Christmas Eve has come, but the old Russian shoemaker, Papa Panovich, is sad and alone. When he begins to read the story of the very first Christmas, the treasured words take on new life as he imagines and interacts with the words of Scripture. Then Papa Panovich believes he hears Jesus speaking to him, telling him that He will visit him tomorrow. All the next day while looking longingly for Jesus, Papa Panovich stops to help so many - providing a warm drink for Ivan, the old street sweeper; encouraging a struggling wid...

35 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible, 1 child, extra voices

Rev. Cordell opens the play as he recalls a Christmas some 20 years earlier when he was trapped with a handful of other strangers by a blizzard in a small Oklahoma diner. He wasn't a pastor then, but a young man full of questions. Seamlessly, we join the group: the owner of the diner who is set in her ways, a middle-aged man with a secret past, an edgy newspaper reporter from out of town, and a young mother completely on her own with a small child who does not speak. No one in the lonesome diner is quite sure of the real meaning of life or where theirs should...

26 pages

4 m, 5 w, 1 child.

Merry Lane is a nursing facility the Brittenham brothers call home. Rufus, the oldest brother, is a grouch who dislikes Christmas time. Edgar, the middle brother, is a kindhearted, soft-spoken man, the peacemaker, and Percy, the youngest brother, is scatterbrained, but has a heart of gold. Despite Rufus' many objections, Percy shares story after story about their childhood. And if that isn't enough to drive Rufus crazy, the members of the Ladies Auxiliary stop in to sing Christmas carols and the young kids visit and "adopt" a grandparent. One little girl touc...

34 pages

5 m, 4 w

In 1933 the Depression had taken the merriment from the holidays. After a private party cancels, diner owner Mabel decides to stay open on Christmas Eve. That’s a good thing for a gangster, two thespians, and an out-of-town couple who wind up in a small diner just to get out of the cold and warm up with a hot cup of coffee. But when an inept robber takes them hostage these strangers find a Christmas miracle. This heartwarming holiday comedy tells an offbeat story of down-and-out strangers discovering the joy of Christmas at gunpoint. About 45 minutes.

51 pages

Adults (4 m, 5 f); Teens (3 m, 4 f); Children (1 boy); flexible (4)

Christmas at Happy Valley isn't going to be so happy for Leo or his forgetful buddy Al. There're the only two residents of the retirement home not leaving to spend the holiday with family or friends. Leo especially is undone over the plans put in motion by his estranged daughter-in-law, Chelsea. In anticipation of his early demise, she has consigned him to the home and taken over his finances. Meanwhile, the activities director cons a church group into performing a Christmas program for the two old gentlemen, but at such late notice, only a handful of teens s...

28 pages

3 m, 5 w, 2 girls, 3 flex.

The Biblical story of the prodigal son is the basis for this modern-day play. Steve, a high school senior, hates living at home and wants to quit school to escape. His dad, also fed up, gives him the money he has saved for him for college. Out on the street, Steve finds he has friends - as long as he has money. At his lowest point he meets Gabby who shows him the importance of God and family. At her urging, Steve writes his parents saying if the one flickering light in their Christmas decorations is visible, he'll know he is welcome back home. A very heartwar...

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...

16 pages

8 m, 4 w, 4 flex, extras.

The Shoemaker and his wife want so much to have Christ visit their home during the Christmas season. They feel certain they'll know Him when He comes, but their only visitors are a poor woman and her baby, a rich old spinster, a beggar, and a young boy in trouble, all of whom they invite willingly into their home. Later in a dream, the Shoemaker sees those he helped that day worshipping at the manger where the Christ Child lay. He realizes that, through them, Christ had visited. Performance time: 30 minutes.

27 pages

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

Here's the story of a mysterious stanger who, one night, changes forever the lives of a small group of stranded travelers. Each traveler has his own fear or weakness. The cripple depends on his crutches to gain sympathy; the woman feels she must wear valuable jewerly to be worthy; the preacher has lost sight of God and can only see as far as his flask; the young husband and wife are running away, afraid to go home again. Charley, the bus station agent, uses tall tales to hide his true soul. Afraid at first of being robbed by this mysterious, bleeding man whos...

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...

35 pages

4 m, 7 w, 2 male teens, 2 female teens, 2 boys

An angel, who remains comically nameless throughout the play, shows a small group of squabbling strangers what the phrase "Merry Christmas" really means. From a well-off but rude family to a stressed waitress at a café, and from some tense and terse bank customers to overworked employees, we see how thoughtless people can be as the holiday approaches. Through some heavenly intervention, they all end up at the home of a typical family whose struggles to make ends meet almost, but not quite, override their path to a Christian Christmas. Together, these people e...

34 pages

1 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 1 girl, extras.

It's Christmas Eve inside Sizemore's Department Store. Janet, a sales associate, is a new widow trying to cope. The store manager, Mr. Fox, in an attempt to impress his boss, Ms. Sizemore, constantly harasses Janet over small things. Janet's faith is dwindling to nothing until she witnesses a simple nativity reenactment her best friend organizes for the shoppers at the end of the hectic business day. She realizes dealing with life's heartaches becomes a little easier when we slow down long enough to let God's love fill us. A touching story mixed with comic mo...

23 pages

4 m, 7 w, 2 boys, 1 girl.

Looking for a play that will bring forth the holiness of the season and unite your congregation as never before? This exquisitely moving play is our choice. The Grant family is a family divided. Mrs. Grant and the daughters are strong Christians, but they can't convince Bruce Grant or son, B.J., of the importance of God in their lives - until a heart attack lands Bruce in the hospital shortly before Christmas. There he and B.J. meet other faithful Christians. But it isn't until they get to know Thad, a critically ill little boy whose dying wish is to see Chri...

28 pages

9 m

It’s Christmas Eve, 1944, in the midst of a raging blizzard…and the throes of a battle that is expected to become the last major assault of WWII, the Battle of the Bulge. A small patrol of battle-fatigued American soldiers, who have captured a German SS officer to interrogate, are lost and seek refuge in a bombed-out church somewhere south of Bastogne, Belgium.

Although united in brotherhood through the danger they face, the men are very different; from the tough but well-respected fi...

28 pages

Flexible Cast and staging

As "The Reluctant Shepherd," ten-year-old Toby invents numerous excuses to keep from participating in the live nativity at his church. Later, standing on the cold hillside under the sparkling stars, Toby and the other shepherds bring the true meaning of Christmas to life for passing motorists.

A well used crèche helps bring calm to the chaos as two exuberant children decorate for Christmas without adult supervision. The nativity figures, though scratched and broken, can be used, "One ...

48 pages

4 m, 6 w

Rev. Sarah, the minister of a small-town church, finds Christmas barreling down on her. Like everyone, she, too, is caught in the trap of commercialization where everything has to be bigger and better, including the Christmas Eve service. But how is she supposed to get it all done? Her crisis peaks moments before the service is to begin when, feeling totally uninspired, she finds out the kids who were supposed to present the nativity are stranded and won't make it in time. Her salvation comes from the most unlikely characters: John, the old maintenance man; C...

26 pages

6 m, 6 w, choir.

Three shepherds hear the message of the Christmas angels and each has a loved one he hopes to bring to the Savior. Idealistic Nathan wishes to take a beautiful but selfish singer from the inn aged Lemuel wishes to take his weak son and nagging daughter-in-law and Amos wishes to take his wife, Rachel, who is bitter over the loss of their newborn son. Some go to the manger and some do not. Those who go find love, joy, and peace. Performance time: 60 minutes.

18 pages

9 m, 2 w, 3 flexible (some doubling possible).

In this hilarious comedy Ben Filbert is a successful businessman who has all that money can buy, except one thing: a new heart. This Christmas Eve the modern-day Scrooge revels in belittling his employees and brusquely refuses an employee's invitation to attend a church service. Ben's guardian angel, who has found him to be a tough charge over the years, allows him to be mugged. After escaping from his robbers, Ben finds himself in a strange neighborhood, without any money, and he seeks refuge in the very church he refused to visit earlier. After being welcom...

28 pages

6 m, 7 w, 1 g, 10 children, extras, doubling.

Dave Moore is home for the holidays having given up a successful army career for a "new line of work." His progressive parents wonder what fabulous paying job this might be. When David explains he is going to be a minister, they are deflated momentarily. David tells about his change in a dramatic story of life and death, and a new life which ended forever his Christmases without Christ. Performance time: 45 minutes.

15 pages

6 m, 3 w, plus choir of angels.

How Far Is It To Bethlehem? That question is asked from four different perspectives including Joseph and Mary, the wise men, the angels, and the shepherds. This play is simple to produce because each short scene except the last, a traditional nativity scene, can be rehearsed independently. Little or no scenery or lighting is required. Song suggestions are included. Performance time: 45 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 ...