46 pages
6 men, 5 women, 1 teen, 3 children, extras
Judith, a middle-aged widow, makes her livelihood by selling funeral spices and shrouds in front of her home just blocks from the temple. She is an unfriendly and unlikeable woman who mysteriously rejects Jesus and his teachings. Although her visiting cousin, Simon, and her neighbor and friend, Leah, both accept Jesus, Judith does not. Even after she witnesses Jesus heal a blind man and later sees Him struggle past her house carrying the cross, Judith rejects Him. It's not until Jesus confronts her after His resurrection and reveals her deepest hurts does she...
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...
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
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.
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.
47 pages
1 m, 2 w
Jacob is a decent family man trying to earn a living as a guard at the temple in Jerusalem. But his life becomes complicated by the maverick preacher, Jesus. First Jacob finds his roof damaged after a crowd lowered a crippled man down into Jacob's home where his wife Miriam and daughter Deborah had arranged for Jesus to visit--unbeknown to Jacob. He forbids Jesus in his home again, but that doesn't stop Miriam and Deborah from following Jesus. Their participation is damaging Jacob's career prospects as his bosses are trying to keep this Jesus under control. W...