WorshipOnPurpose Theatrical makes theatrical media, scripts and services available to churches through our contributing artists, actors, writers, designers and directors.
by Tim Jones
This simple script, designed specifically for use with Group Publishing’s A Night in Bethlehem program, was developed by Tim for use by the Littleton Vineyard. Scripted dialogue for 21 characters, including shopkeepers, will keep the flow of the evening moving while exposing guests to the elements of the Christmas story unfolding around them. The paperback book contains all of the tools that you need to integrate this “ambient” theatrical experience into your event. Camera-ready clip art is available upon request. Purchase the book for $9.99 by clicking here.
Excerpt from the A Brief Word About Ambient Theatre (included in the book):
The actual event of Christ’s birth was marked by a flurry of activity and emotion. Frustration, fear, tension, coupled with hope, celebration and worship are all intermingled in the biblical accounts. Audiences cannot process all of these emotions simultaneously (as they occurred authentically) so creating moments of tension, moments of celebration and moments of worship allows them to experience the variety of emotions in an ordered and accessible manner. This is the “magic” of the theatre that we brought into our event.
About the book (from the back cover):
Christmastime is a ripe time for your church to extend an artistic welcome to people in your community. The program that Group Publishing calls A Night In Bethlehem is one of the most exciting resources available, bringing together storytelling, art and spectacle in a family-friendly environment…
But we found that our amateur actors had a hard time improvising their way through the story… And that even when they were clever enough to keep the conversations going, the story itself was often obscured or lost…
So, we developed bethlehemEXPERIENCE to give our actors something clever and meaningful to say… and to create moments that would be memorable to the people that attended our event…
In addition to the reproducible scripts, this book also contains the playwright’s thoughts on ambient theatre and production notes from the premier performance…
