CREATIVE HOMESCHOOL DRAMA

 

Serious question! Where do you find a script that includes twenty-nine actors ages 4-18 and presents a gospel message?

Serious answer! You write your own.

That is exactly what Marjean Moffitt did recently in South Carolina. She turned the story of P.P. Bliss into a play which was presented entirely by homeschoolers. They performed the drama twice, at Agnew Road Baptist Church in South Carolina, and again at Grace Baptist Church in East Flat Rock, North Carolina.

Mrs. Rebekah Hawkey directed the play, assisted by many mothers who helped with costumes, props, lights and staging. One mother served as the accompanist and arranged the music for two of the songs. A sophomore, David Hawkey, wrote a new tune for the Bliss song “My Prayer.”

Marjean worked with the fifth and sixth grade boys on their lines and lyrics. “It was a challenge at first,” she says, “but I was so proud of them by the end.”

Practices were held once a week for two months with parents driving many miles to make certain their students were prepared. They had time for only one dress reheasal before the first performance.

Songs by P. P. Bliss included familiar hymns like “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” as well as tunes he wrote for children, like “Tardy Troop” and “I Am So Glad that Jesus Loves Me.”

Several years ago, after working with Marjean and her husband Marcus in churches out west, I wrote a book for Meriwether Publishers called “Don’t Give Up The Script” (Available on Amazon). It is not easy finding a script for certain combinations of ages in homeschool groups, but don’t give up. It is worth the effort.