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    Spontaneous Melodramas 2: 24 More Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories to Life
    Spontaneous Melodramas 2: 24 More Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories to Life
    Spontaneous Melodramas 2: 24 More Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories to Life
    Ebook130 pages1 hour

    Spontaneous Melodramas 2: 24 More Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories to Life

    By Doug Fields, Laurie Polich and Duffy Robbins

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    About this ebook

    The lights are dim. The crowd is hushed.And a dozen teens start laughing hysterically, piling into a human "boat" that helps set up the mind-blowing miracle of Jesus walking on the stormy Sea of Galilee.Maybe you’re after a booster shot for midweek youth group meetings that feel "same old, same old." Or you’ve just been asked (last minute, of course) to run the service at the shelter during your mission trip, and you need a jolt of energy that’ll draw kids into your lesson. Whatever your creative need, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will fill the bill. Continuing where its predecessor--Spontaneous Melodramas--left off, this volume offers another two dozen tales from the Old and New Testaments that bring the biblical accounts to life . . . with distinctive, contemporary twists!Although these no-rehearsal skits will leave your students in stitches, the humor never buries the message of Scripture. So you can be confident when bringing your kids--whether or not they’re familiar with the Bible--into sketches like:The Sumptuous Spare Rib (Adam and Eve)Touched by an Angel (Jacob’s wrestling match)Love on a Threshing Floor (Ruth and Boaz)The Wizard of Eyes (Jesus heals the blind man)The Great Pool Party (Healing at the pool)Dead Man Walking (Jesus raises Lazarus)Spontaneous Melodramas 2 is full of flexible skits that youth workers, Sunday school teachers, camp counselors, and retreat directors can use for discussion starters, icebreakers, or talk intros. And they’re natural fits for Bible study programming, all-nighters, mission trips, camps, retreats, parent meetings, and many other events.More than a year’s worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and fun, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will make the Bible--and its unforgettable characters and adventures--extra memorable for your students.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateAug 3, 2010
    ISBN9780310873846
    Spontaneous Melodramas 2: 24 More Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories to Life
    Author

    Doug Fields

    Doug Fields has been a leader in youth ministry for over 30 years. In addition to being a youth pastor at two churches for 11 and 20 years, Doug is the founder of Simply Youth Ministry, the co-founder of Downloadyouthministry.com, the author of more than 50 books, and is currently working with Youth Specialties & Azusa Pacific University (HomeWord’s Center for Youth/Family). More information about Doug is available at www.dougfields.com.

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      Book preview

      Spontaneous Melodramas 2 - Doug Fields

      How to Use Spontaneous Melodramas 2

      Trying to explain the concept of spontaneous melodramas is like trying to explain the concept of a car wash. It’s as simple as it sounds, but if you’ve never seen one before, it may be tough to visualize. Imagine the person who has never seen a car wash: I drive my car through a building and it comes out cleaner on the other end, huh?

      A spontaneous melodrama is almost that simple.

      It’s a short play in which the acting is unrehearsed. As the narrator reads through the script, the actors act out the narration. If there’s an acting part, they act it. If there’s a speaking part, they speak. It’s not meant to be serious theater—it’s light, fun, and not too polished.

      Yet in their simplicity, spontaneous melodramas demonstrate a basic educational principle: Students learn and retain more when they are involved in the learning process.

      For example, teach a lesson on the importance of service and students walk away with—at best—a mandate: I guess I should be serving others. Take those same kids on a mission trip to build houses, and they walk away with a life-changing memory. You don’t have to be in youth ministry long to know that a memory trumps a mandate every time.

      A spontaneous melodrama is a teaching tool to help make Bible passages memorable for your students. Our belief is that if you can get your students laughing, moving around the room, and involved in the teaching, they’re more likely to remember the lesson. It’s a tool to make God’s Word vivid.

      The process is simple.

      1. Find a melodrama that fits your intended lesson. If you’re teaching a particular topic (i.e. temptation, the power of God, God’s love, faith, etc), choose one that ties into the topic. Or use it as an intro when you’re teaching one of the 24 passages these melodramas are based on.

      2. Prior to the meeting, do a quick inventory: How many characters are needed for the melodrama? What props are required? Read through the Leader Hints.

      3. During your meeting, call up the students you need to play each part. In most cases, they don’t need prior notice or a rehearsal. Just call them up and pass out the props. It’s showtime!

      4. And don’t worry too much about getting everything right. This is not Steven Spielberg—more like Abbott and Costello. You may have to coach your students a little at first, but once they have their first experience acting goofy in front of the group, the comfort level comes pretty fast (especially when they get their first laugh.) Soon you may have a fight trying to keep them off the stage.

      Spontaneity makes great humor, so plan for it!

      Now and then, every youth worker has the experience of picking up a resource, trying an idea, and then watching as it bombs. The kids didn’t get it. Nobody thought it was funny. And the natural complaint is, That idea didn’t work! It’s important to remember that ideas don’t work, youth workers work. The ideas are simply the tools we use to do our work.

      Most of these melodramas require little planning beyond gathering a few props—if that. But you’ll find that some simple preparations may make the melodrama work better. Here are some suggestions to consider.

      1. Casting pearls before…um, casting students…

      Who should I cast in the swine part? One of the keys to making a melodrama work is giving some thought to who should play each part. For example, you don’t want someone quiet and shy to play the part of Cruella De Vil in 101 Damnations (Luke 4:40-41), because that part requires someone who’s willing to ham it up. If you assign that part to Susie Silent, you’ll think you’re experiencing the 102nd damnation instead.

      On the other hand, you don’t want the same five extroverts in every melodrama. There are some parts that will allow your quieter kids to shine. Maybe Tim Timid shouldn’t be Samson, but he has all the ability and charisma needed to play one of the toppled pillars.

      Remember that some kids respond well to parts that put them in silly situations, while others don’t. If you’re not sure how a student might respond, there’s no rule from the IMC (the International Melodrama Commission) that says you can’t talk to the student in advance about the part. If the part makes them uncomfortable, plug them in somewhere else. If you don’t have a student to play an especially corny role, recruit a leader to step up and take the part.

      2. Read it right and write while you’re reading.

      Without question, most important part of a melodrama is narration. Telling the story well is the key. There is no better way to mess up the melodrama than to stumble over words, lose your place, or miss the subtlety of a play on words. It doesn’t mean you need to call in James Earl Jones as a guest narrator—just take a little time to read through the script out loud several times before going live. Get used to the names of Bible characters. Get a feel for the flow of the drama. Note what the actors should be doing. By doing this, you’ll be more relaxed and spontaneous when you’re reading in front of the group.

      Sometimes the funniest stuff in a spontaneous melodrama is the stuff that happens—well, spontaneously. If a performer misunderstands your narration and does something not in the script, ad-lib a line to work it into the story. Don’t feel you have to read the script exactly as it’s written. Tweak it. Cut out a part that won’t work for your group. Add a reference to last week’s lock-in, or mention a person in your group by name—whatever it takes to help draw in your students (Not only did Job lose his family, his farm, and his health—he was also a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.).

      3. Nctions speak louder than words, so speak the actions loudly.

      As you read through these melodramas you’ll see right away they are intensely visual. Spontaneous melodramas are not known for extensive dialogue. Each melodrama is peppered with action words that invite your students to do something. This is important for making it work.

      While you’re narrating the melodrama, the actors will take their cues from what you say and the way you say it. You may find it helpful to go through the melodrama in advance and mark the verbs (uh, the action words) so you’ll know when to pause and give your students a nonverbal cue. (Samson groaned [pause]…sighed [pause]…grimaced [pause]…staggered [pause]…and screamed in agony [pause]…as his chest heaved with rage [pause]…)

      Occasionally you may need to repeat a word or phrase to let them know some action is expected. "His…chest…heaved…with…rage. I said heaved with rage." You get the point.

      4. Don’t show up the nain showdown.

      Behind all the silliness and fun in this resource is a deeply serious vision: that your students might come to have a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ.

      Isn’t that a lot to ask of a melodrama? You bet! So we better not ask the melodrama to do what only God can do. We have a God who speaks through lilies, fig trees, dried bones, and Old Testament donkeys—and he can speak through melodramas too.

      But this book is the means to an end. We’re not just trying to be funny, have fun, or get kids to think we’re cool (don’t worry—they won’t!). What we are trying to do is stimulate their interest in the Word of God and the Lord it testifies about. A melodrama is not a Bible study. It may be part of a Bible study, or it may simply be a fun skit to develop an appetite for Bible study. But it’s probably not a good idea to finish Gilligan’s Zoo and say, Okay, kids, let’s close in prayer. That’s it for the night.

      We don’t want to get so carried away with the vehicle we forget our destination. Our job is to draw kids closer to Christ—and

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