PUTTING ON A BIBLICAL PLAY
Taken from a pamphlet by
Jewell Ellen Smith, written
in 1973,
entitled "How to Put On
a Good Friday Prayer Breakfast,"
With further comments by her
son, Dr. David L. Smith, written
in italics.
The many Easter and
Christmas plays (some 30) written by Jewell Ellen Smith were begun as a desire
to present a "Good Friday Prayer Breakfast," including a short play,
at Fort Rucker, Alabama. As an Army wife and mother, she felt that the
techniques she developed could be put to good use by military personnel at
other posts throughout the world; she therefore wrote up her experience at
performing her plays in the book "How to Put On a Good Friday Prayer
Breakfast," published in 1973 by the U.S. Army Aviation Center at Fort
Rucker, Alabama. As such, some of her suggestions are applicable chiefly in a
military setting, however there are many valuable suggestions that may be of
use to other groups performing these plays.
Click Here to Return to
the Jewell Ellen Smith Homepage
Putting on a Biblical play
is not just a matter of getting a bunch of amateurs together to do some acting.
The play should be approached in an appropriately reverent atmosphere, and
should include many little items to make it an eagerly anticipated event. For
instance, the plays were originally performed in the Officer's Club at Fort
Rucker; thus the general environment was conducive to comfort. Included were
some ceremonial touches such as a Styrofoam cross in which flowers could be
imbedded in a ceremony to take place after the play, and some more practical
touches such as a good meal. That said, here are some of the things she wrote.
UNWRITTEN RULES
The programs do not come
precut. Nor is one year's presentation exactly like that of the year before.
However, the committee
charged with program development follows an unwritten rule that the two-hour
event tell of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and Christian duty; and, that
the entire occasion be a form of worship and praise.
The program may include the
reading of the Scriptures, hymns, prayer, dramatizing Bible truths and stories,
and giving each participant moments in which to search his own heart, and
privately renew his vows to God.
Long speeches are avoided.
No sermons are allowed. Dignity, simplicity, and solemnity set the mood so that
Good Friday can be observed as a Holy Day--a day to remember the Cross.
A THEME IS CHOSEN
If the play chosen for
performance has an overall theme, this theme can be carried over into other
aspects of the event, such as in…the table decorations and through material placed in
the printed program bulletin.
For example, the play titled
"Hands" (q. v.) has the theme that a Christian should use his hands
for God, and for his fellow man. It is ...so written that the chief action centered
around a scene showing Pontius Pilate as he washed his hands of Jesus of
Nazareth, even as the Jerusalem mob yelled, "Crucify him! Crucify
him!"
For its part, the ...
committee on decorations secured praying hands figurines for each table's
centerpiece. These were flanked by miniature basins of plain water.
And the program development
committee had printed on the program bulletin the matchless lines from
Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur:
More
things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of.
Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and for them who call them friends?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
HOW TO PLAN A GOOD FRIDAY
BREAKFAST PROGRAM
A. WHO DOES WHAT
In planning such an
event, the first question is how to get organized and to determine who will
do what.
At Fort Rucker, the method
successfully used has been this: The Chaplain Advisor already assigned to the
Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) becomes the project officer. The
president of the PWOC either names a breakfast chairman or assumes this duty
herself. These two and the director of the play work together as a team.
The Executive Board of the
PWOC assumes numerous responsibilities as directed by the president. She names
from the board and the membership-at-large chairmen for table decorations,
menu, tickets and reservations, preparation for the cross ceremony, name tags
and hospitality, costumes, stage and scenery, publicity, art work and music.
These chairmen, in turn, ask for volunteer workers.
B. WHO PAYS AND HOW MUCH
How much money to spend on
the breakfast program is the second practical consideration. It can be much or
it can be little. There should be serious consideration of selling tickets
for the event, particularly if it is elaborate and will probably be
well-attended. Another possibility is to sell tickets for the meal, but not for
the play itself. This will free up precious church funds for other purposes.
Sources of expense are on
printing the tickets and programs, costumes, scenery materials, and table
decorations.
One place to trim cost is on
the program bulletin. Commercial printing is expensive. For several years, the
Fort Rucker PWOC made the program leaflets by hand. They were unusually
attractive, but this became impractical when the number needed passed the 300
mark.
Individuals make private
contributions to the prayer breakfast fund. And many of the participants in the
play provide their own costumes and props.
Costumes bought ... are kept
from year to year. The scenery, too, is used over and over again. The costumes
are always simple and generally hand sewn by the costume committee. Wigs and
beards are bought. They are almost a must for many of the role models in the
plays are played by women.
The average
costume--depending on the quality of material--costs about $6. Booklets on how
to make Bible characters' costumes are readily available in Christian
Bookstores. And the pictures in children's Bible story books prove an excellent
source for suggestions on authentic-looking garments. Other, but more
expensive sources, can be readily found on the Internet. Plugging the term
"Biblical AND costume AND rental" into AltaVista (http://www.altavista.com) revealed over a
million different sources for costumes! But of course these will be more
expensive than something stitched by hand.
WHEN TO START WORK
It is advisable to begin
work on the breakfast arrangements, if it is to be staged during Holy Week,,
early in the spring. At Ft. Rucker, preliminary plans are made in January.
Tryouts for the play are held the first week in February and rehearsals begin
soon thereafter, depending on when Easter falls. It takes from four to six weeks
of practice for the musical plays.
It has been found that
before rehearsals begin, it is best to call together the whole cast and all
workers involved in the play to take a look at the drama as a whole, to study
its theme. This, so that each person can see just what it is that the
production will say to the audience.
Later, separate practice
sessions are held, scene by scene, for two weeks or ten days. After that, the
entire cast comes back together to put the scenes together.
At this first meeting the dates
for all rehearsals are scheduled. The costume committee also agrees to a
deadline for its work to be completed. And the publicity chairman announces
when pictures will be made.
It is possible to rehearse
too many times. Yet, when there is a cast of some 20 to 30 people, it is
practically unheard of for every person to attend every rehearsal. Each player
has many other interests and responsibilities: small children, jobs, other
commitments. Allowances must be made this and for the unexpected.
(It is well-remembered at
Fort Rucker that one year on the day of the final dress rehearsal, Salome
didn't show up because her prize hound was having pups, the Christ Figure was
called to Washington, DC, and
the Devil's grandma died!)
TABLE DECORATIONS
What is used as centerpieces
[at the breakfast tables] is determined by the central theme of the play
and by what flowers and other materials are available.
The tables look lovely, but
not festive. Bright colors are avoided. Black, the traditional color for Good
Friday, is used sparingly. Purple is acceptable. So is gold. And, white.
Flowers are used. Small gleaming crosses are effective. Praying hands figurines
are excellent.
In the table decorations as
in every other aspect of the program, simplicity, dignity, and respect for Good
Friday as a Holy Day is stressed.
THE MORNING OF THE BREAKFAST
The Good Friday Prayer
Breakfast program is made to run smoothly without a break or interruption so
that the total effect is one of solemnity, reverence, and quiet joy.
. . .
The host groups always with
to make each guest feel welcome, but it became obvious that a receiving line is
a bottleneck. So, as guests arrive, they are given name tags and ushered to the
dining area and are seated at the tables. Serving the food buffet style was
tried. This, too, consumed so much time that it was decided to have the plates
served from the kitchen.
The president of the
P.W.O.C. serves as mistress of ceremonies. The order of the printed program is
given in the printed bulletin, of course. The folder also carries a synopsis of
the scenes of the play and a conventional list of players. There is also a page
devoted to naming committee chairmen and workers. This is considered sufficient
public recognition so that time is not used to thank the scores of people who
have worked like the proverbial Turks.
THE
GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER BREAKFAST IN PICTURES
Publicity is Important: The
Prayer Breakfast is well-advertised, weeks in advance, through newspaper
articles and pictures.
Miriam the Prophetess:
"...and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with
dances," in a scene from "With a Timbrel, Too.
An Accusing Finger: A
chaplain playing Judas Iscariot objects to the anointing of the feet of Jesus
of Nazareth, as a dress rehearsal gets underway.
"Her Candle Goeth Not
Out:" An Army wife does Proverbs 31 as a soliloquy.
