Christmas Play - What if Jesus Came Today?

What if Jesus Came Today?

Written by Vicki Budden

So often the story of Jesus' birth seems to be an event from the far distant past and hardly relevant to our own time and place.

This play examines events of that first Christmas from our own time and perspective, albeit an Australian one! (Please feel free to change terms and details to fit your own time and place.)

It was first performed at Maitland SDA Church (New South Wales, Australia) in 1996.

Suitable for juniors to adults to perform. Additional participation from younger children may be gained through the use of scripture readings and song items.

Notes

Characters

Storyteller	Preferably an adult. Introduces and concludes the play
Emma Jake	Husband and wife - gossipers
Robert	Motel manager
Dan Mick	Two drovers
Anna	Teenage girl

Props

When the play was first performed, the only stage prop was an old church pew. It was used in the following way.

Scene One	A few cushions were added and this became a sofa.
Scene Two	A park bench.
Scene Three	A fence - the drovers hung their saddles on the back of the pew.
Scene Four	A church pew!

Other props included dusters, newspapers, saddles, Bible.

Other Performance Notes

This play tells the Christmas story entirely from the viewpoint of minor characters in the original tale. Because of this, songs and scripture readings were also interspersed throughout the play in the original performance to tell parts of the story. Because of the time lapse since the original performance some of the exact details of the songs performed are not known but the titles may help in choosing something similarly themed. Each of these were performed/read after the scene given. Use of these also allowed more people to participate and could be used for the inclusion for younger members.

Scene One	Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38
Scene Two	Song: "Mary Had a Baby"
Scene Three	Song: "The Christ Child is Born"

Terms

As this play was written and set in Australia, a number of the terms reflect this. You are invited to change these terms to make them more relevant to your own time and place.

akubra	a hat made of rabbit pelts worn commonly in rural Australia.
drizabone	a long weather-proof jacket.
drover	one who drives cattle or sheep long distances to market.

Copyright

You are free to use this play for performance purposes and make alterations in order to suit your own situation but you do not have permission to republish. All rights reserved under applicable Copyright laws.

updated 22 June, 2009