A Life Worth Living

Soon more visitors come, all figures from the Bible: Stephen, Peter, Mary Magdalene, Paul, Judas, Matthew, etc. Each one telling their own story and all sharing about the life of Jesus. (these are in individual monologues) The first visitor reveals that He is really Jesus, and leaves a choice for Lara. Very evangelical, and strong salvation message. Lots of scripture. The parts of Lara and Dana can also be played by two men, as in the excerpt here. This play also works very well with an all male cast, just removing two of the female monologues.

12 actors (8 male, 4 female) No set changes, can be done very simply, with few props. About 50-55 minutes. Songs can be added to make a nice musical.

CAST OF CHARACTERS (In order of appearance):

LARA:  (Or Larry) Main character.  She is suicidal.  Full range of emotions.

DANA:  (Or Dave)   Lara’s friend from the past.  Now a believer, she wants to share with Lara.

MYSTERY MAN:  A hooded character who shows up in visions.  This ends up being Christ.

STEPHEN:   Bible character from the book of Acts.  Monologue.

SAMARITAN WOMAN:  The woman who spoke with Jesus at the well.

ROMAN SOLDIER:  Longer monologue, describes the beatings and crucifixion from having been there.

MARY MAGDALENE:  long monologue about her healing and what she witnessed.

SIMON OF CYRENE:  Monologue.  The man who carried the cross for Jesus.

JUDAS:  Longer monologue, describes the other side of the story, from his perspective.

PETER:  Monologue.  The disciple describing how God used him even though he failed His Lord.

PAUL:  Monologue.  He describes a lot of what he went through to present the gospel.

MATTHEW:  Monologue.  Tells his own version of the story of the Messiah.

(The set is simple… the one room apartment of a man.  Simple furniture… a bed and special lights can be used to bring on the appearances of the bible characters in his visions.)

 

Excerpt:

 

(Story opens with a young man/woman walking around his room acting
distraught. He seems frustrated and depressed and can’t seem
to decide what to do. He finally picks up his cell phone and
dials and then waits impatiently. Finally he gets a machine and
leaves a message.)

 

LARRY: Carla, it’s me! Are you there? If you’re there, please
pick up! I need to talk to you! Please? You can’t do this to me!
You gotta give me another chance! I’m losing it, Carla! First
losing my job and then losing you… I can’t take any more! Carla!
Pick up! I know you’re there! Please talk to me! You gotta help
me! Carla… I don’t want to live anymore. (pause)… bye Carla.
(Hangs up cell. He goes to the table and picks up a bottle of
pills. He reads the label. He takes off the cap and looks at the
pills inside. There is a knock at the door. He puts the lid back
on the pills and puts them down and goes to the door.)

DAVE: Hey, Larry! Surprise!

LARRY: Dave! What are you doing here?

DAVE: I was in town for my uncle’s birthday, and I thought I would
look you up. (He comes in. He has a Bible kind of out of sight)
Wow, this place has changed. It looks a lot different.

LARRY: Well, I haven’t been keeping it up very well.

DAVE: No big deal. I’m sure you are very busy.

LARRY: Not really.

DAVE: Man, I haven’t seen you forever! I would have called first,
but I actually couldn’t find your phone number. I did remember
where you lived, though. And I was hoping you still lived here.
So, I decided to try and see if you were home and surprise you.

LARRY: You sure did that. Have a seat.

DAVE: What’s going on with you these days, Man? It’s been a very
long time since we talked. How’s your mom doing?

LARRY: My mom died last year, Dave.

DAVE: What? Really? I didn’t know, I’m so sorry. What happened?

LARRY: Cancer.

DAVE: Really? Oh, Man! I’m really sorry.

LARRY: How’s your folks?

DAVE: Oh, they’re doing okay. They’re over at my uncle’s. How’s
the job going? Did you ever get that promotion? The last time I
was here, you said you were hoping to get it.

LARRY: No, Dave, I never got it. Instead I got fired.

DAVE: Fired?!

LARRY: Fired, layed off… whatever you want to call it. The
bottom line is I’ve been unemployed now for six months. There are
no jobs to be had. I’m running up debts galore, and
I even owe money to Carla.

DAVE: That’s heavy stuff! Hey, what’s going on with Carla? You
two ever going to tie the knott?

LARRY: She broke up with me.

DAVE: You’re kidding me! You guys were together forever! Wow, I
just can’t believe it!

LARRY: It’s my own fault. She couldn’t take it anymore. Since I
lost my job, I’ve been depressed and having a lot of mood swings..
and she just couldn’t handle it. She said I was no longer the same
guy. I keep calling her, but she won’t talk to me anymore.

DAVE: Man! That really stinks! I can’t believe all this stuff. I
really need to be praying for you!

LARRY: What?

DAVE: oh, yeah. I do that now. I pray.

LARRY: What did you do, get religion or something?

DAVE: Yeah, something like that. It’s not so much getting religion
as it was getting a new life. That’s why I have this… this is my
Bible.

LARRY: I was wondering what that was.

DAVE: I thought if you weren’t home, I would just sit on your porch
and read till you got here.

LARRY: This is sure different. What made you want to be religious
all of a sudden?

DAVE: I don’t know. I guess I was seeking for some kind of meaning
in my life. You know, get some answers and reasons for why I’m here.
Stuff like that. Anyway, this friend from work invited me to go to
church with him. I normally don’t do that sort of thing, but he is
a really cool guy, and he seemed to have it all together, and I
figured if I wanted some answers, that I could start there. I was
also going to check out some other religions too, like Buddhism, and
some of those self-help places. Funny part was, I never got past
my friend’s church. I got there and the people all seemed so happy
and so relaxed and they all really seemed like they knew what they
wanted and when they sang, they really seemed to be worshipping God.
I was impressed. Then this guy got up to speak, and he read from
the Bible and then he explained what the passage meant that he read.
I could not take my eyes off of him. It was like he was talking
to just me. At the end, he invited people to come to the front if
they wanted to be saved and know that they were going to heaven. My
friend bent over and said, “So, what did you think?” And all I
could say was, “I think I need to be up there.” And I got up and
went up to the front with the others, and someone prayed with me,
and it was like I was being forgiven for every sin I had ever
committed, and I invited Jesus Christ to come in and take over my
life.

LARRY: What do you mean you invited him?

DAVE: Well, Jesus wants to be Lord of our lives, but He doesn’t
force Himself on us. He wants us to ask. He can help you, Larry.

LARRY: Oh, no. I don’t need any religious stuff, I have enough
problems.

DAVE: That’s just it, Pal. You’re trying to deal with all these
things and Jesus wants to lift all those burdens from you. He told
us to come to him, if we are burdened and heavy laden, and He will
give us rest. Here, maybe I can read it to you. (He opens his
Bible)

LARRY: You don’t have to do that.

DAVE: I just don’t remember where it is exactly. But here, I do
know this. In Romans it says that all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. That shows us that we are all sinners. Every
single one of us. Then it says that the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So,
we are sentenced to die for our sins, but God is granting us eternal
life. Then over here it says that God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So, you see, that was when He died on the cross. And then in
chapter 10 it says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved. So that is how it’s done in a nutshell. But
you need to read all of this. I’ve been devouring this book ever
since I got saved.

LARRY: Boy, you are really into that aren’t you? It’s like I don’t
even know you anymore. This doesn’t sound like you. Not the Dave
I know.

DAVE: I’m not the Dave you know. When I got born again, I became a
new person. That old guy is gone, I’m a new creature in Christ,
now. You gotta get a Bible and start reading it. Hey, why don’t
you take mine? I’ve marked it and stuff, but that’s okay. You can
read the stuff I underlined and marked.

LARRY: I can’t take your Bible. I can see you really like reading
it.

DAVE: Nonsense. I’ll get another one. Or if you get one, you can
give mine back. But I don’t care if you do. Just keep it. Don’t
start at the beginning though, not for awhile yet. Start back here
in the New Testament. Here, start right here at the book of John.

LARRY: I don’t know, Dave. I don’t think I’d better.

DAVE: Why not? What have you got to lose? And you only have so
much to gain.

LARRY: Well, I can’t deny that you have changed, and you seem very
happy and you have peace like I’ve never seen before, but wished I
could have. You have obvioulsy found something that I would have
liked to find, but I just think it’s too late now.

DAVE: It’s never too late, man! I would love to tell you more, but
I have to get back to my uncle’s party. Hey, I’ll leave this here,
and you can start reading, and then I’ll come back later tonight
and we can talk about it. (He sees the pills on the table, and
picks them up) Are you taking these?

LARRY: (Tries to grab them, but Dave pulls them back giving him a
strange look) They’re just sleeping pills.

DAVE: That’s not a good thing to get used to, you know.

LARRY: I need them. Give them back.

DAVE: I don’t want you to sleep, I want you to read. I’ll just
hang on to them for awhile.

LARRY: You can’t do that!

DAVE: Sure I can. I’ll bring them back, later. I gotta go, Pal.
Please read that. I’ll be praying for you. Let’s pray right now.
(Starts before giving Larry a chance to object) Father, please
help my friend Larry to find his way to You. Open his heart to
understand Your Word and to see that You have all the answers in
Christ Jesus. Amen. I gotta run, but I’ll be back. Be sure to
read that!