Sometimes, the usual five minute scene just gets to be a little, well, routine. If you only do one scene every month or so, it's not so much a problem. However, when you do two or three skits a week, it gets a little more than routine. It gets boring! Not only is it boring for your audience, but the actors get sick of the same style over and over again.

Remember, the purpose in using drama is to make the lesson memorable. We want to give people something special to remember what they heard. When they get used to seeing skits every week, even that becomes part of the routine, and pretty soon people tune out before the skit!

The solution? Every now and then, give them something different, something wild, or maybe even experimental. Anything to make them sit up and say, "Hey! Now this is different!"

And don't put any boundaries on ideas. Experimental theatre has always played an important part in the development of the arts. Two of the hottest tickets in New York are for the off-Broadway, avant garde productions STOMP and Blue Man Group, both of which have provided inspiration for my own drama troupe.

This chapter is dedicated to various non-skit theatre ideas: what they are, and suggestions for using them in ministry. More ideas and scripts are included in the book Drama Ministry for the Dramatically Challenged, available through the drama catalog.

Improvisation is essentially drama without scripts. And contrary to popular opinion, it is NOT a difficult skill. Improvisation is merely reacting to situations, something everyone does in their day to day lives. The actors are given a set of prompts or cues (location, lines to say, characters, situations, actions, etc.) which are incorporated into the scene. These prompts may be very detailed and specific, as in a story outline, or they may be very limited. Mike Nichols and Elaine May, film makers who began their careers as improvisational comedians, were famous for their first line/ last line routine. They would ask the audience to suggest only the first and last lines to be spoken in the scene, and use them to create hilarious scenes.

The most important thing you can tell your actors is that there are NO MISTAKES in improvisation. When there is no script, and no set lines to be spoken, it is IMPOSSIBLE to mess up. This is due to the rule of agreement. The performers must agree that every line spoken and every action taken become part of a scene that is being created on the spot. If one actor states that he is proud to be an astronaut, he must trust that his partner will agree with him and become an astronaut, too.

The trust goes both ways. The first astronaut may pick up a rock which he imagines to be a moon rock. If he asks his partner, "Do you know what this is?" and the partner responds with "It's Pee Wee Herman's brain," the first astronaut must agree that the rock is, in fact, Pee Wee Herman's brain.

The only way the scene could be messed up is if the actor partner ignores the lines and actions of their partner. They must constantly adjust to and react to their partner's actions and lines. For instance, if one actor picks up a basketball and says, "Look at this watermelon," his partner cannot respond with "You idiot! That's a basketball!" The first person has already identified the basketball as a watermelon, so the second person must agree to see the basketball as a watermelon.

The second most important thing to tell your performers is they should NOT try to tell jokes. Improvisation is usually (though not always) humorous. However, the humor does not come out of jokes or witty lines. The humor comes from using the prompts and suggestions and making connections between them. For instance, let's say one performer is playing Queen Elizabeth, and the last line of the sketch is "Game called on account of rain." The performers may tie the two ideas together by having the Queen call off a baseball game because of her inauguration...hence, the game was called on account of her "reign."

So how can you use a completely random form of drama in your ministry? Several ways. First of all, improvisation can be very entertaining as an ice breaker. Improvisation can also be utilized with a lesson, usually as a set-up. For instance, improv can be a living illustration of how we have no control of our own destiny. Another application for improvisation would be in a discussion about witnessing. Pull two actors out and have them play a Christian and non-Christian. Either have the Christian take the offensive and share his or her faith, or have the non-Christian quiz the Christian and force him or her to defend that faith. The intent of this scene is to force the audience think about how well prepared they are to share their own faith. You may even want to allow the actor playing the non-Christian to prepare for the scene ahead of time so they can give the Christian character a greater challenge.

Human Video is a mime drama set to music. It may include lip sync, but human videos do not necessarily have to follow the lyrics or the message of the song. Human Video tells a story, and is usually highly evangelical in nature.

I've seen Human Videos performed for years, but only recently discovered the term on the internet. Ever seen the skit called "Turnaround"? It depicts a girl embracing a number of other characters representing temptation and depression. She finds herself faced with another character labeled "Suicide" she backs away, but finds that suicide pursues her. The other characters circle around her as she tries to dodge Suicide. In the end, a figure in white delivers her and carries her to safety. All of this is set to the old Bonnie Tyler song "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Carman songs lend themselves well to Human Video. I'm sure some of you have seen "The Champion" played out on stage as many times as I have. One song we developed but never got the chance to use was Fiona Apple's "Criminal." Next time you hear it, listen for the religious interpretation in the lyrics. The Bible says God is present everywhere in creation; my experience shows creation includes such arenas as popular music and science fiction. (Check out the God sybolism in The Day the Earth Stood Still, Dune, It Came From Outer Space, and Tron.)

Many youth ministers who use Human video have tapes of their particular pieces and trade tapes with other youth ministers to get ideas. To help you find human video ideas, I've created a special archive on my web site where you can submit and look up new Human Video ideas.

If someone had told me two years ago when I began this book I'd include a chapter on mime, I'd have said they were crazy. Like most clear thinking, level-headed Americans, I hated mimes as a rule. That was before I had the privilege of seeing Silent Light. Silent Light is a youth mime group based at the Master Arts Company in Grandville, Michigan. The group is made up of mostly home schooled students, and they travel all over the country. They perform at inner city missions, churches, and other events, and their work is powerful! They even wear the white grease paint, and I was still blown away!

The lesson learned was that mime isn't all guys trapped in a box or walking into the wind. Mime has as many variations and uses as straight drama. It can be an emotionally charged art form that expresses feelings and spiritual struggles in a way words can't. It may be completely silent, it may use music, it may use narration, or it may use narration and music. It may be done with grease paint and black costumes, no greasepaint and black costumes, character costumes, or street clothes. It may use props, it may not use props. Or, if your name is Albert Brooks, it may even involve dialogue. (Okay, so that wasn't really mime!)

The mime we have experimented with uses narration and some props. "Bus Stop" is an older script, but still very popular with our audiences. We dress the girl like a runaway, wearing all she owns on her back. A worn back pack is her primary prop, and the two tickets are usually cut out of what ever paper we find handy. The man with the scars (hmmm, wonder who that is) is also dressed like a "traveler", usually with a jacket. The friends wears street clothes. We never use grease paint. I want the audience to give the drama a chance, so I try to keep the traditional "mime" look out of it. Some directors have used additional actors to represent the "party bus" as well. I always liked leaving that image to the audience's imagination.

That's one of the things that makes mime work. A good mime deals with imaginary in such a realistic way, the audience is forced to "fill in the blanks" with their imagination. As I mentioned in the chapter on skits that teach, when you engage the audience's minds, you make a much greater imprint on their minds and cause them to remember the skit.

One of the most successful mimes we used came from Joshua Harris' book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. The book has a great story in it called "The Room". We combined the mime and narrative with the soundtrack to Twin Peaks (The creepiest music in the world! Get the CD, and I promise you'll find a use for it.). The result was chilling.

I have a few mimes listed on my Skits Page which can be ordered. There's also a national organization specifically for Christian mimes called Mimeistry. You can contact them at www.mimeistry.org

Here's yet another unusual twist that differs from traditional skits: drama that makes the audience part of the show. This format calls for a narrator or narrators to guide the action. You may use as few or as many narrators as you like. I usually write for two. As the storyline unfolds, the narrators travel into the audience and pull people out as needed to portray the different characters in the story.

This is an ideal way to communicate with a small group or an outdoor group. It's a classic form of street theater, very effective for mission trips and outdoor events. Gather the audience around you, and you've created a highly enjoyable "Theater-in-the-round." And though it may seem tricky, this is actually an easy and VERY effective form of drama to use with small children. After you've pulled one kid out and given them a part, you'll have a dozen hands waving to be pulled out and fill the rest of the cast. The story should be as simple and direct as possible, so your actors can follow and act out the story with as little prompting as possible.

An older audience may not be so cooperative. Should you meet with resistance from someone who does not want to act, there's only one solution: do not give them a choice! We pulled our straight-laced, no-nonsense church administrator out of the audience once, completely against his will! He did the skit because we wouldn't let him say no. Once you've given in to one person, you'll never get anyone on stage. The trick is learning to grab them before they know what's happened. Once they realize they're on stage and the audience is cheering for them, they're stuck! Completely at your mercy!

If dialogue is necessary, there are two ways to use it. One, is to say the line and have the person repeat it in character. This method is easiest when you have a young audience that may not know how to read. The other way to handle dialogue is to make cue cards. When speaking lines occur in the story, the narrators hand the cards to the characters. The cue cards are especially helpful when punchlines or inside jokes are contained within the story's dialogue. Other ways to exploit the audience: have them shout out "Hurrays" for the heroes and "Boos" for the villains. They can sing. They can also become scenery: trees, walls, shrubs, tables. One fun gag is to make a person get on all fours and be a table. Have other characters place drinks and plates of food on their back, and then LEAVE THEM there!

The most important thing to remember with this kind of skit is to keep it moving. Don't let things drag out. Ad lib to fill gaps, but don't ad lib every time. Only as much as it takes to speed the skit along to its conclusion.

You can check out audience participation ideas like "So What the Heck Is Sin Anyway?" on the Skits Page.

Reader's theater is very similar to radio programs of the 1930's because the drama is read, with no visual blocking or movement. A group of actors takes the stage, usually dressed in black. They may be arranged in any way. They may stand or sit. They may hold their scripts in folders, or have their scripts set on stands. They may be lined up or arranged in any way on stage.

Often in reader's theater, the settings and images are much bigger than anything you might portray on stage. The setting may shift rapidly, and the action may be on a larger scale than the stage normally allows.

In addition to the character's dialogue and emotions, the actors must communicate setting, mood, plot, and action solely with their voices. A narrator may be used, but a narrator is not essential. The characters may take time narrating the story, or the story line may be communicated through dialogue. A notable example of story being delivered through dialogue was the radio dramatization of the Star Wars movies. The complex action of the sci-fi classics was presented solely through the characters' dialogue.

Because of the way Reader's Theater takes advantage of the audience's imagination, it has virtually no boundaries. There is no real limit to the number of characters; each actor may play one role or several. You may tell a concrete story in a concrete setting, such as the tale of a prisoner in a concentration camp. Or you may present something a little more abstract, like the drug trips in "River of Deception." I co-wrote this script with a good friend who has seven years of first hand experience in drug use. Maurice was delivered from drugs after a ten day LSD flashback. He's a living testimony of how God can save anyone from any addiction. In writing the script, we used popular drug images and lyrics to create the dream-like world of a drug trip. There are also direct and indirect references to famous celebrities who have died from drug use.

The central character (Voice One) takes two trips. The first is delightful and pleasant. The second trip begins peacefully like the first, but quickly shifts into a terrifying experience. Towards the end of the piece, the drug user stands on the verge of a third trip. She knows that death is imminent if she pursues her trip, but sees no way out. She cries for help, desperate to be free of her addiction. The piece ends with a passages from Proverbs and the Gospels, offering a ray of hope.

In staging this piece, we not only dressed the readers in black, we performed on a completely dark stage. Each reader held a candle to light their scripts. We also lined the front of the stage with candles, and arranged the readers in a staggered pattern. The unique staging and powerful message made "River of Deception" one of the most requested and most popular skits in the Dramamaniacs repertoire. I was told that the "biggest druggie at Floyd Central High School" was in the audience one night and asked questions about the drama the next day in school. Those who have experienced drugs praise the way it recreates the feelings and sensations of a drug high. Others praise its intensity and powerful style.

Another reader's theater in the Righteous Insanity catalog is "The Judge." This is one of the best selling scripts on the web site. Again using five speakers, "The Judge" is told from the perspective of four sinners condemned to die for their sins. They describe the trial, their immense guilt, their feelings of doom, and their ultimate sentencing. Then suddenly, the story takes a twist: the Judge character steps off His platform and takes the criminal's punishment for the four convicts.

It's such a rare form of theater, and yet so powerful. I have yet to see a Reader's Theater performed that did not leave an impact on the audience.

Reader's Theaters such as "The Judge" and "River of Deception" can be ordered from the Skits Page.

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