Trade Paperback
128 pages
Jan 2006
InterVarsity Press

Review  |   Author Bio  |  Read an Excerpt

Review:

The sixteen short scripts in this book, Drama For Real Life, by master storyteller Steven James are all under five minutes performing time. They are event skits meant to be paired with a sermon, worship service, or other program. They require few if any props and each skit comes with tips for actors, simple stage directions which can be altered to fit the stage, and available space and audio-technical suggestions.

The first four skits are about beliefs. The second four are about behavior. The third set is about relationships. The fourth set is made up of portraits based on parables from the Bible. A topical index is included which serves to help the dramatists chose the right skit for an event. The book also includes actor’s tips and a checklist for strong church dramas, while each drama has a related Scripture and suggested segues for the service leader to transition from it to a message without losing the tone.

James holds a master’s degree in storytelling and is an entertainer, conference speaker, and performer. He understands and relates well to the youth culture of today, and has a gift of being able to communicate with an audience.

James believes that the churches that will prove to be the most effective in reaching the postmodern audience—today’s emerging culture—must have three characteristics: they must use story to relate truth; foster honest communication; and create experiential worship. These skits with their use of imagery touch the emotions and draw the audience into the experience, and so are a means to that end.

I recommend this book to leaders of youth drama teams who want to involve more young people in an authentic worship experience. The scripts are relevant and insightful, creative, and do not fit the predictable, tired, overdone mold of much church drama. – Elece Hollis, Christian Book Previews.com

Book Jacket:

Emerging drama ministries face a daunting challenge: to give voice to the unvoiced anxieties and uncertainties of people coming of age in a complex world. These feelings and doubts are difficult to express in words, but they can be sketched out in the action and tension of drama.

• Love and Marriage
• Job and Vocation
• Faith and Doubt
• Morality and Ethics
• Temptation and Desire
• Life and Death

These are the challenges we face in the crossroads of our lives. You won't find answers in the sketches that portray them (leave that to the preachers), but you will find truth.

An award-winning storyteller and accomplished author, Steven James presents sixteen scripts for use by drama ministries in church or on campus. Designed for ease of use, Drama for Real Life features

• simple settings--easy to manage for beginning directors
• no more than five actors per sketch--easy to cast
• time frames less than ten minutes each--easy to fit within a worship setting
• insights geared toward directors, writers and actors

With pastoral sensitivity and artful authenticity, Drama for Real Life shows us what truth looks like in the real world.