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.

24 pages

Large, flexible cast, approx. 11 m, 9 w, and any number of children.

This is one Christmas Eve you'll want to spend out of town - with the friendly folks of Nazareth, Texas. Modern day scenes with the flavor and poignancy of "Steel Magnolias" bring the Christmas story to life. From the Chic 'N Sassy beauty shop where Rhonda Gae learns she is pregnant, to the Starlight Motel where Leona helps a poor young couple find refuge, to a lonely farmhouse where the lost Jubilee Trio singers deliver gifts to an infant, you'll see the Christmas story unfold in a very special way. Warm, neighborly characters, a Christmas Spirit who serves ...

29 pages

3 m, 3 w, 1 teen girl, 1 boy, 1 girl, and pageant cast of 14

Michael is too busy and unconcerned to have any time for God. His twins, Chris and Camille, realize his need for God and are trying to persuade their father to go to the church Christmas program with them, but Michael has flatly refused to go. However, God is at work in Michael's life although he does not realize it. With the help of Uncle Matt, a faulty furnace, and his wife, Kathryn, the program is brought to him. Finally, Michael understands his own need for God. Performance time: About 50 minutes.

56 pages

11 m, 10 w, extras

This dramatic comedy tells the story of a Christmas in 1938 in the small town of Comfort Falls--population 603. The cream of society is getting ready for their out-of-doors holiday extravaganza at the town bandstand. Then they find out that the local church is planning a "competing" program, their annual Christmas Eve pageant, also at the bandstand on the same night! The society set, lead by the Widow Jeffries, and the church drama troupe, defended by her long-suffering son-in-law Mayor Hoshpepper, are joined by a hilarious group of eccentric townspeople (and...

30 pages

3 m, 3 w, extras.

Donnie, an ingenious young boy, is determined his father is going to develop faith even if he has to impersonate Gabriel. He might have a dirty robe and a crooked halo, but somehow he gets his point across. Very skillfully blended into this play is a short, sacred pageant. Performance time: 60 minutes.

50 pages

7 m, 10 w, 9 children, doubling possible.

The holidays are approaching and the members of St. Peter's Church of Riverview have to choose: either spend Christmas Eve with some local orphans or hold their traditional celebration. While many are generous with material gifts, sacrificing their time is quite another matter. Add a famous New York talent agent looking to audition the two best singers in the congregation, and soon competing desires threaten to tear apart the harmonious Christmas spirit. Set in the 1940s, this play beautifully reveals its characters' choices and convictions as they move towar...

48 pages

3 m, 2 w, 4 boys, 2 girls, 4 boys or girls, extras possible.

Lifelong friends Will and Glenn have a long history of producing the Christmas pageant together at their church. Following the hiring of a young pastor with new ideas (including a Santa-themed Christmas pageant), Will and Glenn found themselves on opposite sides of the debate, and the rift has cut off all communication between them for two years running. Now Will no longer attends church and calls his friend a backstabber. Glenn’s daughter Roberta is determined to bring the two lost friends back to each other. She takes on directing the children's Christmas p...

12 pages

2 speaking parts.

A minister, alone in the sanctuary, wants something different for Christmas Eve service, something with a real emotional kick, perhaps a famous person. Then the Voice from above speaks. For every glitzy idea the minister has, the Voice counters it. Finally by recounting Jesus' birth, the Voice seems to get through to the minister. The simple nativity story is best. The minister pulls out a tape recorder proclaiming, "But I do have a celebrity!" The tape, however, has only one voice - his own. The minister realizes the old, old story of Love's greatest gift gi...

58 pages

25 or more flexible parts, one soloist, optional choir

Rachel is sent to Bethlehem to find a "good news" story for the newspaper but can't find anything worthy until shepherds and angels tell her of a wonderous birth. As first the shepherds then wise men go to a simple stable to kneel before the Babe, Rachel realizes she has found her story - a story that will surpass anything she had hoped for. Here is God's gift for all people. It is a story that will outlast time, a "Story for the Ages." Seven beautiful songs including Rachel's song, "Bethlehem Town," the shepherds' and angels' songs, "Gloria" and "Be Not Afra...

19 pages

8 m, 6 w, narrator.

In Part I a modern wife, serene in her happiness, scoffs lightly as her old-fashioned mother tells the children the Biblical story of Christmas, acted out in pantomime with a narrator in Part II. In Part III the modern wife finds, in near tragedy, that the scarlet ribbon of Christmas, which runs through the Bible, still binds the past and the future together in faith and hope. A presentation that offers easy rehearsal scheduling, and yet highlights the Christmas spirit. Performance time: 90 minutes.

25 pages

3 m, 4 w.

Janie wants a real old-fashioned Christmas, one that brings back the spirit of the old days, but her boyfriend is too busy working at the mission to help her. As hard as she tries, everything goes wrong - the popcorn balls are too sticky, the homemade candles collapse, and the live Christmas tree falls over. Janie thinks Christmas is ruined, but it's only the display that's failed. With the help of her family and boyfriend, Janie rediscovers that the Christmas spirit is in each of us, giving and sharing all year long. Performance time: 30 minutes.

38 pages

With doubling: 7 m, 3 w. Extras as desired.

The extreme peril and the boundless love surrounding Jesus' birth is beautifully dramatized here. Lucius, an ex-Roman soldier still vibrant although somewhat crippled, has escorted Mary and Joseph on the long trip to Bethlehem to register for the tax. In return Joseph will build cabinets for the inn that Lucius owns with his wife Swan. They hide the couple in a small cave used as a barn and soon the older couple thinks of Mary as an adopted daughter. But there's danger everywhere. In a tense scene Lucius uses his wit and friendship with local soldiers to enab...

12 pages

6 m, 3 w, 6 flex, extras.

Bring the biggest news story ever to your congregation with special, on-the-spot reports from the hills of Bethlehem. Reporters interview villagers on the scene including shepherds who tell how the singing of angels led them to a stable where a baby has just been born. Soon the reporters interview wise men and even the baby's parents themselves. As one reporter closes the newscast he wonders what the world will one day make of the events of this night.

20 pages

7 m, 5 w, 2 teen girls, 2 boys, extras as angels.

Leah, a teenager, has never spoken a word in her life, and her mother, an old servant woman at an inn, feels guilty and worried about the future. But that all changes when Baby Jesus is born at the inn's stable. As shepherds come to worship Him, another miracle occurs and Leah speaks for the first time, to sing a lullaby. A beautiful, dramatic story. Performance time: 30 minutes.

32 pages

Large flexible cast. Minimum with doubling: 8 m, 4 w, 8 children, 8 angels, extras.

Three storylines intertwine beautifully to tell the Christmas story. It’s 1917 in the small town of Bridger Falls where a widower and his five children get ready to celebrate Christmas in their comfortable home. Watching them from outside a window is a lonely little boy, Jacob, who’s trying to help support his mother while his father, Will, fights the war. The second setting is a bunker overseas where Will witnesses to two other soldiers fighting in World War I. As if sending us back in time, a third setting takes us back to Bethlehem where we relive the Chri...