What is drama?

Drama in Greek means "doing it". This is a collection of plays meant for group action, as well as reading and discussion. For example, some time ago I was asked by our Church School Director to do
some drama with a 3rd grade class on Sunday morning. I carry a bag with sets of highlighted cards
and a tape recorder. There were two boys and three girls. A good choice would be "The Lost Coin".
(This play provides the illustration for the cover of my book. One of many performances, in this case,
by sixth graders.)

For the first reading Jane was Maria, the wife with the ten carefully saved coins. Matt was Pablo, her husband.
Molly and Anne were the two neighbors, awakened by the noisy quarrel between husband and wife after she lost one coin. They read the two minute scene a little tentatively, but with some promising skill. The turning point came when Maria said to Pablo, "Hand me that broom"! With the broom she could reach the dark corner where the coin was. We played their effort back on the recorder. How people love to hear themselves! The young people immediately resolved to do better next time. Rob took over as Pablo, the others switched roles. After three readings each of the girls had taken the key part of Maria.
Then we discussed the parable. Who are the lost coins in our church school? In your school or any place else you can think of? Who are the leftouts, victims of bullying or of neglect? Could they be a lonely grandparent?
The young people promised to think about it.

The next day a terrible shooting occurred in our city. A motherless 16-year-old boy killed several schoolmates and wounded others, including a teacher. So on the following Sunday, I said to the same group of children,

"What a pity nobody had a broom"! Nothing can excuse what that boy did; but, if only someone, anyone, had broken through his loneliness and frustration…

This sums up what we try to do. Third graders are normally my youngest group---they can read well enough to bring the scenes alive. My oldest group, in a retirement home, has an average age of eighty-five. Drama is for everyone!

The play could have been "The Innkeeper" (cast of six), or "Granny Is Coming for Christmas" (cast of four) or "The Judgement of Solomon" (cast of four) or a hundred others. A verse from the Psalms says, "I have prepared a lantern for my Lord". That is what I hope to have done through these plays: to light people’s way to God. There are no denominations on stage. Half of these plays come from the Hebrew scriptures. I have been privileged to use them in churches and schools with many different names and approaches. Do try them out! And share with me your experiences! We can help each other.