He Sent Us an Angel By Beverly S. Carter Performance Rights It is an infringement of the federal copyright law to copy this script in any way or to perform this play without royalty payment. All rights are controlled by Eldridge Publishing Co. Inc. Call the publisher for additional scripts and further licensing information. The author's name must appear on all programs and advertising with the notice: Produced by special arrangement with Eldridge Publishing Co. ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 2006 by Eldridge Publishing Co. Inc. www.95church.com Download your complete script from Eldridge Publishing http://www.95church.com/playdetails.asp?pid=881
- 2 - STORY OF THE PLAY Students in Mrs. Smith s class have forgotten, or never knew, the true meaning of Christmas. From Santa to expensive presents to boyfriends, their explanations of what Christmas means to them are generally selfish and shallow. But that quickly changes when their bus breaks down during a snowstorm and they find themselves seeking shelter in an abandoned church. A homeless man suddenly enters. At first cautious, they soon give him their food, warm coats, shoes and other belongings to comfort him. When he reappears as an angel, he shows them that their generosity is the real meaning of Christmas. The next day they write new essays, this time reflecting their new outlook as Christians. Approximately one hour. RUNNING TIME SYNOPSIS OF SCENES Act I: School classroom shortly before Christmas. Act II: A week later, an empty church. Act III: The next day in the classroom.
- 3 - CAST OF CHARACTERS (1 f, 2 flexible, 3 m teens, 7 f teens) MRS. SMITH: Adult, English teacher. A Christian. STRANGER/ANGEL: Adult, written for a male, but with a few changes could be a female. BUS DRIVER: Adult, written for a male, but with a few line changes could be a female. STUDENTS ANDREA: A Christian, very shy. DAVID: Basketball player. Lost his mother at Christmas a few years ago. She was a Christian. STEPHANIE: Cheerleader, very wealthy and spoiled. KIRRISSA: Cheerleader, airhead. JESSICA: Cheerleader, drama queen. Wants to go to Hollywood to be an actress. SHEENA: Homecoming queen. Vain and self-centered. AMBER: Band member. Obsessed with a secular band. ALLISON: Focused on love. Girlfriend of Jared. JARED: Basketball player. Boyfriend of Allison. BEN: Brainy student. Always has a laptop computer with him.
- 4 - PROPS Act I and III: Ten desks or chairs for students, school books, supplies, and papers with essays written or typed for each student, podium at front of classroom, chair and desk for teacher, trash can beside teacher desk, laptop and case for Ben, Bible for Andrea, make-up bag for Sheena, headphones for Andrea. For Act III, ten Bibles each wrapped in wrapping paper or placed in gift boxes. Act II: Church pews (if room allows) or chairs and song books. Coats for all characters. Cell phones. Blanket. Wood burning stove, lighter and wood. Andrea should carry her Bible. Ben s laptop case should contain two oatmeal cream pies. Jared needs a gym bag with a pair of shoes and socks and a bottle of water. Allison needs McDonald s gift certificates. Amber needs money. Mrs. Smith needs a purse and briefcase and will need money. Sheena needs gloves. Stephanie needs a scarf. Jessica needs a hat. Kirrissa needs an apple in her backpack. COSTUMES Students and teacher dress as they would for school for all acts. Stranger/Angel should be homeless man and then look like an angel.
- 5 - ACT I (AT RISE: A high school English classroom. The STUDENTS are seated in their desks, and the teacher has not yet arrived. Andrea is reading her Bible quietly. Ben is typing on a laptop computer. Stephanie, Jessica, Sheena and Kirrissa are talking and laughing. Sheena is touching up her make-up in a compact mirror. Jared and Allison are sitting beside each other, holding hands, and gazing into each other s eyes. Amber is sitting beside Allison, but she is busy listening to headphones. David is hurriedly writing his essay.) ALLISON: (To JARED.) I can t wait for Christmas. I just know you ll love what I got for you. JARED: I think you ll like your present too. ALLISON: If it s from you, I know I ll love it anyway. DAVID: (To JARED.) Are you ready for the game? JARED: Yeah, man. Are you? DAVID: Yeah. My dad s supposed to be home from Chicago in time. JARED: (Looks at DAVID S paper.) Are you working on your essay? DAVID: Yeah. Kind of last minute, huh? JARED: Really! I finished mine in study hall! (THEY laugh.) ALLISON: What are you listening to, Amber? AMBER: (Name of favorite band.) Who else would it be? KIRRISSA: (To STEPHANIE and JESSICA.) So, anyway, Kelly said she saw them at the mall. They were kissing! JESSICA: No way! Right in front of everybody! KIRRISSA: Yeah! And Jimmy doesn t even know about it yet. STEPHANIE: He doesn t? KIRRISSA: Not yet anyway. He s bound to find out soon. STEPHANIE: (Looks at ANDREA.) Can you believe that girl? She is actually reading that thing in front of everybody.
- 6 - JESSICA: How embarrassing! I would die before I read a Bible in public. SHEENA: Really! (To ANDREA.) Hey Andrea, what you reading there? ANDREA: Matthew, Chapter 2. SHEENA: What is that? ANDREA: It s the real Christmas story. KIRRISSA: Santa Claus is in the Bible? ANDREA: No. It s about Jesus. JESSICA: That s right. Didn t Jesus die on Christmas or something? ANDREA: No. He was born on Christmas. (ANDREA shrugs. MRS. SMITH enters but does not say anything.) STEPHANIE: Get a life, Andrea. Nobody reads the Bible anymore. ANDREA: I do. STEPHANIE: Well, like I said, nobody reads the Bible anymore. MRS. SMITH: All right, guys. Sorry I m late. It s essay day. I assume you have all finished your essays on, What Christmas Means to Me. (DAVID tries to hide that he is working on his essay. MRS. SMITH walks to the front of the room and stands in front of her desk.) MRS. SMITH: (Continued.) Remember, at least one hundred words. You need to read your essay aloud, and then you have to turn it in. Any volunteers? JESSICA: (Raises hand enthusiastically.) Me! I ll go first. MRS. SMITH: Jessica, go ahead. (Sits behind her desk.) JESSICA: (Walks to the front of the classroom, flips her hair, then smiles widely.) The best thing about Christmas to me is knowing that in a few years, I ll be in California. I figure as soon as I graduate, I can go to Hollywood.
- 7 - JESSICA: (Continued.) I figure I can be a Lakers Cheerleader, and hopefully I ll get discovered pretty soon. I want to be an actress. I hope to make my first movie within a couple of years. If I have to, I ll be on a television show for a while. It would be okay if I can have my own series. (Looks up from her paper.) You see, it could be a drama about a beautiful young girl and what it is like to be in college. (Puts her hand over her forehead and overacts the scene.) No, Eric, you don t understand. I m not that kind of girl. I want you to respect me for me. I need to know that you love me with all of your soul. (SHE smiles and holds her paper out to finish reading it.) Anyway, that s what Christmas means to me. (As JESSICA hands her paper in and returns to her desk, all the STUDENTS, except ANDREA, cheer loudly.) MRS. SMITH: (Sighs and shakes her head.) Thank you, Jessica. Very informative and dramatic. Who s next? SHEENA: (Raises her hand.) Pick me! Pick me! MRS. SMITH: Go ahead, Sheena. SHEENA: (Stands and walks to the front of the room. Feels her hair to see that it is in place before starting to read from her paper.) What Christmas means to me is the Miss Snowball Pageant. The pageant is the day after Christmas. You see, after I won homecoming queen this year, I thought, wow, like I m even prettier than I thought. So, anyway, I hope I get to be Miss Snowball this year. And, after I win Miss Snowball, and after I graduate, I m hoping to be a model. I was thinking about moving to New York, but I might move to California with Jessica because I think I could get a modeling job out there too. My biggest dream is to be the top model for a jeans company and to be on the cover of a magazine. (SHE smiles and hands her paper to MRS. SMITH, then returns to her seat.) MRS. SMITH: Thanks, Sheena. Good luck. Now, who wants to go?
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