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Christian School and Home School Drama Groups

Posted on by Janelle

Looking for something extra special for this fall or next spring?
Take a look at PEOPLE LIKE US: EDEN AND BEYOND.

Christian Schools and Home School Drama Groups will find this intriguing drama production offers great flexibility in casting and staging as it can be performed by groups of different sizes, depending on whether actors play more than one character.

With three different endings, it can be performed for Lent, Easter, or general use. Length varies from 45-60 minutes, depending on which option is used and whether musical selections are included.

The production features fourteen engaging drama duos of key Bible characters. Pathos, irony, and humor pepper the dialogues between characters who experience temptation, doubt, deceit, jealousy, and forgiveness. Their surprises and conflicts remind us they really were People Like Us.

Two narrators provide continuity between the sketches to highlight the purpose of creation, the impact of sin, and the incredible story of redemption.

Additional benefits: Individual sketches can be studied for literary devices or used for speech classes or language arts festivals. They can also create new ways of studying Bible passages based on the characters.

CHRISTMAS Supersedes COVID

Posted on by Janelle

Christmas tree with covid ornamentCHRISTMAS supersedes COVID! Conditions were also messy when Christ entered our world as a helpless baby. His birth shattered stereotypes and unnerved religious and political powers. From the beginning, they were out to get rid of this Universe-Creator, History-Maker, and Eternity-Re-shaper who was born in a manger. 

Yet, Jesus Christ overcame all their plots to undermine and do away with him. Instead, He defeated death and offers eternal life to all who believe. 

Christmas points to redemption and hope. Both are desperately needed today. How about sharing one or more of these easy-to-socially-distance monologues or two-voice dramas that point COVID-discouraged people to the Hope-Giver for whom Christmas is named?

Hope Beyond Covid

Posted on by Janelle

Fall FoliageCOVID-19, a tiny, unseen microbe, ambushed us in 2020. Suddenly, masks, social distancing, and sheltering in place became mandated norms. As we seek ways to cope with and overcome this worldwide pandemic, AlphaStar Drama offers easily produced monologues and two-voice sketches as well as a brand new haiku trilogy of hope.

Until November 21, 2020, scripts are half-price if you use the code FALL50 at checkout.

Perform them live, live stream them on YouTube, or share them on Zoom to shine God’s light and hope in a refreshing and re-connecting way. Enjoy!

HOPE BEYOND COVID–HAIKU TRILOGY

Worldwide pandemic–
Swift transmission. Unknown cure. 
Fear-fractured future.

Life as we knew it–
Gone. Changed. Troubled times ahead.
Where can we find hope? 

As darkness deepens,
We find refuge in Jesus–
God’s bright Morning Star.

© Patricia Souder, 2020

O Jerusalem

Posted on by Patricia Souder
Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane
Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23: 37 NKJV

Jesus loved the people of Jerusalem and longed to protect them. But they refused. Palm Sunday’s adoration by the masses accelerated animosity from the religious leaders. Within days, Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, and crucified.

Normally, we gather together to remember the events of Palm Sunday and Easter corporately with marvelous music, services of somber reflection, productions that dramatize this incredible story, and festive banners and flowers coupled with joyous alleluias.

Social distancing is disrupting our ability to get together physically. Should we just let Easter go by in silence? Or is the message of suffering and resurrection needed more this year than ever?

Many churches are doing their best to stay connected via virtual technology and drive-in services, but we still experience a need for participation and community. The stay-at-home directives turn the focus to families and neighbors to find creative ways to share the incredible truth of Easter within the home or in small groups where people can keep their distance.

Alpha Star Drama wants to help! Listen to audio previews and download Easter scripts for FREE at www.AlphaStarDrama.com. Invite family members or a few neighbors to get involved by reading or acting out one or more of the dramas to experience the story through the eyes of the Bible characters who are speaking. Talk about why they acted as they did. Discuss how you might have reacted if faced with similar circumstances. Look up the story in the Bible to get a broader view of what happened and why. Encourage one another to choose a character and role play the events. Ask God to help you gain a deeper understanding of what Easter is all about. In the process, you may build family bonds and a vital relationship with the risen Christ.

The global pandemic that’s engulfing us is scary. In The Jerusalem Post, Joel C. Rosenberg, former aide to several American and Israeli leaders, reports that “Millions of Americans say Coronavirus is a ‘wake-up call’ from God.”

Jesus’ grief over Jerusalem pointed to Calvary, but it was surrounded by His teaching about signs of His return and the end of the age. Let’s do whatever we can to help people understand Biblical truth and bring them to faith in Jesus Christ, the One who conquered death in order to give us eternal life.

Birth Pains

Posted on by Patricia Souder
Performance of "Missing the Messiah"
Performance of “Missing the Messiah”

Thanksgiving and Christmas come wrapped in tradition. Turkey with all the trimmings. Family, fun, and football. Christmas trees, cookies, and caroling. We celebrate in different ways, but we all long for meaningful memories and traces of the transcendent.

 Is there a way to find that? Especially when our special ways of celebration get interrupted by unexpected life changes. 

Giving birth to our son on Christmas Eve changed our plans—and our lives—significantly. But it also gave me a much deeper appreciation of what really happened that first Christmas night. 

“Birth Pains” is my gift to you. May it bring hope and comfort to those going through hard times. God knows and cares. 

Birth Pains

Do we really think Emmanuel
slid silently into our world
on a quiet, peaceful night?

My firstborn came
crying, kicking, gasping for air
as I shivered and shook,
exhausted from panting, pushing, praying.

Was Christ’s coming less labored?

Or do we sterilize the stable,
sentimentalize the saga,
and ceremonialize the incarnation
to minimize the birth pains
Father, mother, and baby suffered as
God stripped Himself of glory that night . . .
giving, grieving, groaning
to be one with us . . .
so we could be one with Him?

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16, NKJV. God’s birth pains offer us eternal  life. There is no greater gift!