Easter - monologues and readings

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  Twelve Seats at the Table

Adult Easter by Susan Furlong and Marilee Lake

31 pages

14 m.


The setting, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper," is the upper room during the last Passover meal celebrated by Jesus and His disciples before the crucifixion. Each disciple, speaking in monologue form, tells why he chose to follow Jesus and how his life has been changed by His presence. Like all men of faith, past and present, each has a different vision of the Lord's purpose, yet, despite their doubts and fears, they are united in their devotion to the Messiah. The audience experiences the humanness of each apostle in this powerful pr...

  The Road to Calvary

Adult Easter by Robert Blaskey

14 pages

7 speakers.


The events at Calvary changed the history of the world. It's easy to identify with the people involved as you listen to their stories. Characters include Peter, Pilate, Mary Magdalene, Judas, Caiaphas, and Mary. Each perceptive monologue is followed by a special prayer given by the leader or minister. Like the Christmas play, "The Road to Bethlehem," this drama can be performed almost anywhere with little rehearsal. Performance time: 15 minutes.

  At the Foot of the Cross: The Last Words of Jesus

Easter by Margaret Smith

16 pages

6 m, 4 w (2 are nonspeaking), 2 flexible


Jesus’ last words on the cross profoundly changed those who heard them. He continued to teach us how to live even in the final moments of His life as He hung on the cross in the agony of His execution. His lessons of forgiveness for the offender, salvation for the sinner, and trust and love for family and friends guide our daily lives. In this play, each character hears a phrase from Jesus' final utterances and reflects on its importance. Two narrators unify monologues delivered by characters whom Jesus affected during the course of His life. All characters a...

  Seven Steps to the Cross

Adult Easter by Roy Wiegand

30 pages

flexible casting


Lent and Easter come alive with these seven dramatic portrayals, each 10 to 15 minutes long. These portrayals can be performed sequentially to form an entire program, or select ones can be performed singly to enhance a worship service. The dramas follow the events as they actually happened, beginning with John at midnight after the Last Supper, and ending with Barabbas some thirty years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Other portrayals are the voices of Judas, Peter, Caiaphas, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. The monologues are as historically acc...

  The Witness of the Light

Adult Easter by Rev. John C. Park

21 pages

14 readers.


Here is a beautiful, inspiring, candlelight Easter service. It is the reverse of a Good Friday Tenebrae service in that as a variety of people read short monologues representing witnesses to the crucifixion and resurrection, candles are lit rather than extinguished. Scripture readings, prayers, and suggested hymns are also included. A dramatic service to show the true joy of the resurrection. About 45-minutes. 

  The Last Words of Christ in the Way of the Cross

Lenten by Thomas J Gardiner

25 pages

1 m, 1 w. (If more speakers are available, the parts can be distributed)


The 14 Stations of the Cross are brilliantly re-interpreted for modern audiences in these readings. Each Station is written to be whole in and of itself, and thus different Stations may or may not be used in each production. The goal of this play is to "Help us to share in the Passion of our Savior, to sense how those twisted streets of Jerusalem run through the streets of Los Angeles and Calcutta. To intuit how the wood that made the cross may buttress the fragile walls of our own homes, to feel how the steel that made the nails may make bullets and and bayo...

  Seeking Jesus

Resource by Laurel Means

44 pages

11 monologues and duets (up to 9 w)


These eleven monologues and duets, presented through nine women, tell the emotional events of Jesus’ Crucifixion and the miracle of his foretold Resurrection. Chronologically arranged, they closely follow the Passion story in interweaving the women’s relationships with Jesus and with each other. Each piece, however, may stand alone, whether in a liturgical role during a worship service, or as part of a program. "Seeking Jesus" assists us in seeing these women as individuals. They are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, disciples – just as women of today. Leng...

  Easter Season

Adult Easter by Linda Goens

56 pages

Flexible cast.


Celebrate the Easter season with this incredible collection of skits. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, there is a skit for all the Holy Days and Sundays in Lent, 10 skits in all. The skits portray people who surrounded Jesus during his last weeks. They are real people who struggled with the same problems dealing with His life and lessons as people of today. Some approach Jesus with their intellects, some with their emotions, and some with a commitment of the soul that is beyond heart and mind. The Lenten dramas emphasize the thoughts and feelings of women while Ho...

  Anticipating the Promise

Easter by Kevin P. Kern

20 pages

4 readers and an ensemble of players


Celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with this Easter vigil play. A cast of four readers brings the Bible to life, and into our modern lives. A troupe of players move among the readers, illuminating the text with movement and pantomime. Six individual Bible stories are dramatically portrayed, including Creation, Abraham and Isaac, Noah and the Flood, Crossing the Red Sea, The Promise of an Abundant Life, and The Three Men in the Fiery Furnace. Anticipating the Promise reminds us that these ancient stories still matter to a modern audience. Run time 15 minutes....

  The Easter Story...Once Again

Adult Easter by Kent S Larsen

46 pages

9 readers/actors


The most authentic Easter story comes directly from the Holy Bible. To include all of the key events of the story, however, requires a careful merging of the separate accounts found in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The writer, using the King James version, has performed this merger beautifully, taking pains to preserve the purity of the scriptural accounts. Included in this resource book are two different texts suitable for presentation during the Easter season, or at other times as well. The first part, entitled Actor Script, is about half...

  From Cross to Crown

Easter Youth by Dolores Steger

34 pages

Flexible


You’ll find something for children of all ages in this resource book of recitations, choral readings and three short plays. The recitations cover the Easter experience, from Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem to the resurrection, and beyond. With simple themes and words for the very young, and more advanced concepts and vocabulary for older boys and girls, these verses will allow your entire Sunday school to participate in your Easter program. Your older pre-teens will enjoy these three short Easter-themed plays which require minimal adult direction. The pre-teens can...

  Ashes for Remembrance

Adult Easter by Carl Kelly

23 pages

7 actors


Seven short Easter season monologues. Seven biblical persons speak to us from their various perspectives in language that sounds honest and real. Job tells us why he sits and daubs ashes on his forehead every year. It is such a strange thing to do! A Samaritan woman, Peter, Thomas, Martha, and a Christian centurion, all relate some of their experience of Jesus and how they have reacted. Finally, Mary, the mother of Jesus, asks what only a mother can ask, "Oh, my very precious child, what have they done to you?" You'll find these monologues thought provoking a...

  Between Death and Life

Adult Easter by Bill Yowell

12 pages

About 20 minutes.


Here is an excellent collection of six short dramatic scenes and monologues in which an agent of the devil visits Biblical characters at their most vulnerable moments, right after the crucifixion. The Samaritan woman, Peter, John, a centurion and others, the agent preys on their weaknesses - their shame, their fear, their doubt. But faith wins out each and every time. Let these scenes inspire your congregation this Easter. Easy to rehearse. About 20 minutes.