Agents of Christ - Prodigal Daughter
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A new generation of Agents has immerged..... Their work may seem to some as mediocrity, but to them they carry a very high esteem because of who they represent. They have made an oath to help their brothers and sisters through times of difficulty…even at the expense of their own lives. They have vowed never to use lies, manipulation and deceit in their endeavours as these are weapons of the enemy…They are the arm of revolution…they extend themselves to a limit no ordinary human would…they will do anything to get the job done. What they do is classified…they are representatives of Christ…they stand as a mediator between human problems and heavenly solution…they are the Agents of Christ, Incorporated…. but to you…they are friends.
This is the first in a series of plays that will be released to you this year. They are based entirely on a group who calls themselves Agents of Christ, Incorporated...the truth is, they are just your friends. They are the ones who will speak truth no matter the consequence; they will forsake their own needs to be there for you through touch times...they are always there. We see them everyday. We interact and struggle together against our common enemy. Together we press towards the mark of the higher calling which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Agents of Christ, Inc...will be your testimony and mine. Each play will be based on true experiences of everyone who has asked me to share their testimonies with you. Agents are our friends. They make healing possible. They share our tears and our laughter.
The Prodigal Daughter is a testimony shared by many. It follows the story of a young woman who has been wounded more times than she can count. At a major turning point in her life, she comes face to face with some touch decisions that could change the course of her life....Agent Allan Johnson is assigned his first case. Will he be able to lead this Prodigal Girl home?
Cast: 3 males, 4 females.
Audience: Teens & Adults
Genre: Contemporary Drama
Sample Scene
SCENE 4
LIGHTS UP
Kerrian is on the coach crying.
ALLAN’S VOICE: Dear God…. this first case will be a whole lot tougher than I thought. She cries even more these days and I can’t help feeling that my attempts have somehow contributed to this. Everything in me wants to just walk away and let nature take its course…but we know what nature can do to hurting people…especially with Jason around. He says he’s an agent, Lord…but I don’t trust Him. I would ask you who he is, but you probably wouldn’t tell me. Anyway, give me wisdom to know what to do. I’m ignoring all my feelings at this point to proceed.
SFX: Knock Knock.
Kerrian quickly dries her cheeks and straightens herself.
KERRIAN: Who is it?
ALLAN’S VOICE: It’s me, Allan.
Kerrian slumps. She’s not too happy to hear that voice.
KERRIAN: What do you want?
ALLAN’S VOICE: May I come in….please.
Kerrian folds her arms and stays there for a beat.
ALLAN’S VOICE: Please.
KERRIAN: Yes, whatever.
Allan opens the door and enters closing it behind him. He has a box of chocolate
In his hands.
ALLAN: Hi.
KERRIAN: Lisa is not home.
ALLAN: I know.
Kerrian looks at him for a beat and quickly looks away.
KERRIAN: Then, why are you here? No one else is here who wants you to be here.
ALLAN: Would it help to say I’m sorry?
KERRIAN: Whatever for. You haven’t done anything.
ALLAN: I’m sorry anyway. We got off to a bad start and…I was hoping we could start over.
KERRIAN: What is it exactly do you want, Alex?
ALLAN: Allan.
KERRIAN: Whatever.
Allan walks over to her and hands her the box of chocolate. She is reluctant at
First, but somehow she just cannot refuse chocolate.
She takes the box…looks at Allan and looks away, softening up a bit.
KERRIAN: How did you know I like chocolate…wait…don’t answer that. I think I already know the answer. Thanks…but nothing has changed.
She helps herself to some chocolate. Allan smiles.
KERRIAN: Tell me something…Allan…why are men like that. You go to lengths to find out what women want and you give it to her. You tell her all the right things she wants to hear everyday…stir up all her emotions and then she falls for you simply because you do and say all the right things and then….bam…you rip her heart to shreds. Why do men do that?
ALLAN: I’m not sure.
KERRIAN: Let me be a little more specific so you don’t have to speak for all men. Why do you do it?
ALLAN: I’m not like that Kerrian. What you see is what you get?
KERRIAN: There you go.
ALLAN: What.
KERRIAN: You’re telling me exactly what I want to hear.
ALLAN: I’m telling the truth.
KERRIAN: There you go again.
ALLAN: You know…somehow I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with this conversation.
KERRIAN: You know…I think you’re right.
Pause.
ALLAN: Kerrian look…I know how…difficult life can be sometimes…but if you just have faith in God…
KERRIAN: God..?
ALLAN: Yes, the big man upstairs.
KERRIAN: Do you know Him?
ALLAN: Yes I do.
KERRIAN: Well, the next time you guys talk…ask him why he has been ignoring me all these years.
ALLAN: I don’t think…
KERRIAN: Ask him why he never answers my prayers. Ask him when will I have a season of peace.
ALLAN: Don’t do this…
KERRIAN: Ask him why I have to suffer so much and make so many bad choices…even when it seems he’s the one guiding my decisions. Ask him why he had to make such a huge mess out of my life….
ALLAN: Stop, please…
KERRIAN: Maybe you can speak highly of God, Allan…maybe you have some pretty sweat testimony that you give in church every Sunday. But I have nothing but pain to show for my service to the Almighty.
ALLAN: We don’t usually get what we want in life.
KERRIAN: Stick a pin, right there. I don’t even remember asking you for advice. Why are you here Allan? It seems like every time I see you all the bitterness…the anger… the hurt…everything just comes up to the surface. I don’t think I like you Allan.
ALLAN: You have to face these elements in order to overcome your past.
KERRIAN: I am not interested in overcoming anything. I just want to live my life in peace, Allan. Am I asking too much? I want to be free from all this….I want to be free for once in my life. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?
ALLAN: I do.
KERRIAN: Then leave me alone, Allan. I am not interested in friendship anymore. My best friend has been stabbing me square in my back these past few days. Just because I owe her a little money. She’s even threatening to carry me to court. My best friend, Allan. I don’t need friends…All I want is peace.
Jason enters carrying two boxes of chocolate.
JASON: Hey.
Pause.
JASON: Am I interrupting?
KERRIAN: No, no.
JASON: Good. I brought you some chocolate…(sees the other chocolate)…though it seems you’re already well on your way to filling your quota for the day…I’ll just put these in the fridge.
KERRIAN: Thanks, Jason.
Jason exits.
Jason pats Allan on his back as he walks past him and exits to another room.
KERRIAN: Lisa won’t be back for a couple of hours. She is in another state on assignment…I’ll let her know you stopped by.
ALLAN: Yeah.
KERRIAN: Thanks. For the chocolate.
ALLAN: Sure.
Pause.
Allan turns away from her and exits.
Jason enters from the adjoining room with two cokes. He hands one to
Kerrian.
JASON: What did he want?
KERRIAN: Nothing.
JASON: Really.
Pause.
JASON: Where’s Lisa?
KERRIAN: She’s not here.
JASON: So, she’s not the one he came to.
KERRIAN: Who else?
JASON: Well…Lisa doesn’t eat chocolate.
Kerrian is pretty annoyed.
KERRIAN: Listen…I’ve already made it clear to you that I don’t want a relationship, okay. I can bring home chocolate without having to report to you, okay. If you can’t deal with that…the door is open.
JASON: Alright….I was just trying to look out for you, girl. I don’t trust Allan. I think he’s up to something.
KERRIAN: And you aren’t?
JASON: I want you, I’m not going to deny that. But that’s not important right now. I want to see you enjoy life….the way it was meant to be enjoyed. I want you to be consumed by that feeling you get from the pleasure of worldly indulgence. I want you to see the world as your playground. It’s ours to enjoy.
KERRIAN: I have had my share of the world.
JASON: From one perspective…and a very limited one at that. Kinda like watching black and white television in the twenty first century.
Jason stands to his feet and extends his hand.
JASON: Come with me and I will show you the world in full colour.
Kerrian finally starts to relax a bit. A small glint of smile creases Kerrian’s lip.
She takes his hand.
Jason smiles broadly.
KERRIAN: What exactly do you have in mind?
JASON: Well, first I’m taking you to a club that I hang out so you can meet some of my guys and gals. I’ll pretty much let nature take its course from there.
KERRIAN: Don’t pressure me Jason. I’m a very fragile woman.
JASON: I won’t…I promise…scouts honour and stuff.
KERRIAN: Yeah.
They exit.
LIGHTS OUT
THE CHALLENGES >>> There weren't really any challenges in casting the play. The Director and I looked at the number of characters that we would need and thought about people that we knew that seemed to fit the description of the character. We asked them--they said yes. We find that people like to be asked. This sometimes works better than auditions. We, of course, had people that asked why there were no auditions. Overall, the way we did it worked out exceptionally well.
THE REHEARSALS >>> The challenges we faced during rehearsals were that not all cast members had the same level of commitment to excellence. This could have been caused by a number of reasons: personal problems, other responsibilities and failure to get a larger and more visible part. There were those that had the smaller parts and they were there, they were prepared and just worked to get the few lines they had as well as the blocking perfected. Then there were some that seemed less committed and had to be called about rehearsals, asked if they were going to be there, didn't know their lines, etc. Then there were those cast members that were so committed it was phenomenal. They came in on Saturday morning or on their off days to work one-on-one with the director to get their lines, blocking, movement, etc.
THE PRODUCTION >>> Overall the production was good. The mood that was created by the cast was one of camaraderie. The average age of the cast was probably 30 for the major parts. Of course, Mom and Big E were older. They got along well, but definitely had opinions about absenteeism and not knowing lines. Most of the reviews we heard from those that attended, including the Senior Pastor, was that it was an excellent and powerful production.
THE HIGH POINTS >>> I think that the cast, as well as other support people, liked the play. Some of the cast had not been in a drama before, some had not held lead parts, so there was a variety of scenarios. I think that it was interesting form them bringing the characters to life. It was amazing how far many of them came in acting and interpreting the play from when we had the first "read through" until performance. It was amazing watching them become the characters--you could see it in there posture, the way they delivered the lines, their body language and movement.
There were two high points of the play for me. The best scene was the seduction scene--where Kerrian attempts to seduce Allan. The script called for a radio--AV had it set so that they could change channels--Kerrian found stations with seductive music Allan found music like "Why Can't we be Friends!: The audience was roaring with laughter. The other high point was the last scene when Kerrian realizes that she needs to change. This scene was somewhat "tweaked" (I know because I tweaked it). There is a song from the play "Dream girls" called "I am Changing" the woman that sang it blew it out! It was awesome. As a matter of fact, the pastor asked her to sing it Sunday morning.
CONCLUSION >>> I think that the emotional parts for me were when other people fell short of my expectations. Each part of the production is important. We were fortunate in that we had administrative support (graphics, programs, flyers), Audio Visual (microphones, sound ques, etc.), other computer support (power point for promotion as well as the intro to the play--the words that introduce "the script" were scrolled on a screen and recited by a man with a deep resonant voice with mission impossible music--very cool), lights (two spot lights), props and costumes--not to mention the support of the music and mime ministries. This was a fairly major production. It has been said that our productions are good enough to pay to see. What is important is: that we do this to honour God and that we do it using the talents and skills that he has given us and hopefully a seed will be planted in the heart and mind of someone that sees the work.
- Susan Ralston(Drama Director)
Overall the production was good. The mood that was created by the cast was one of camaraderie. The average age of the cast was probably 30 for the major parts. Of course, Mom and Big E were older. They got along well, but definitely had opinions about absenteeism and not knowing lines. Most of the reviews we heard from those that attended, including the Senior Pastor, was that it was an excellent and powerful production.
Susan Ralston