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.
15 pages
8 speakers.
Relive the nativity when each of 7 speakers tells about Jesus' birth from his or her point of view. Thoughts and emotions of that holy night come from Elizabeth, the Innkeeper, Joseph, Herod, a Wise man, a Shepherd, and Mary. Each insightful monologue is followed by a special prayer given by the leader or minister. This drama can be performed almost anywhere with little rehearsal. Performance time: 15 minutes.
14 pages
2 m, 3 w
Time has passed. Della and Jim, the young couple from O. Henry's short story, are now elderly. At their yearly Christmas Eve visit to a simple coffee shop, they encounter a melancholy woman. Touched by her sadness, they tell their story in a flashback scene of their first Christmas together when they each sold their most precious possession to buy the other a present. That experience changed forever their idea of buying expensive Christmas gifts. Instead they exchange the most priceless of all, love.
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...
51 pages
10 m, 11 w.
A year ago two angels, Angela and Debra, found themselves on a mission to keep a homeless shelter open. They did so with the help from a busload of stranded travelers and a couple of loveable bums. Now, a year later, the angels have returned for a happy reunion party which turns into assignment number two. The shelter owner's son plans to commit his father to an asylum and sell the property for a profit. Aaron is being influenced by a demon who is posing as an attorney. It's an even tougher undertaking for Angela since the demon is one she has yet to defeat i...
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...
20 pages
4 m, 4 w, 4 teen g, 1 teen b, 2 b, 2 g, extras.
An old man, puzzled about Christianity and the purpose of Christmas, sets out to learn about it by looking in on four different families, all of whom call themselves Christians. At the end he discovers to look toward Christ as an example, not other Christians. About 40 minutes.
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 ...
14 pages
4 speakers
Add something special to your holiday service with one of these beautiful monologues. Titles include "Footprints in the Snow," about a lonely old lady whose Christmas guest left only footprints leading into her home; "Old Otto's Song," about a young boy who receives an old man's gift of song which saves his village; "Silent Night, Heavenly Light," about a new minister who helps a bitter old man find peace; and "Once Upon a Midnight Clear," about a little shepherd boy on the first Christmas Eve.
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...