The second element of drama, the story, ties the first and third together. The story you tell is depends on two things: who is telling the story, and who they are telling it to. Once you can answer those questions, you can begin search for that perfect script.

The first thing you need to examine when selecting a story is the intended audience. What age group do you perform for? Are they Christians or not? How much knowledge do they have of the Bible?

Let's face it, teenagers are hard to please. They want you to be honest and talk with them on their level. Your script selection must take these things into account.

Suppose you are planning a youth meeting around the theme of sex. If your audience is primarily church attending believers, you would be more likely to address God's plan for sex in marriage. One skit we use, called "Princess", is written as a fairy tale. When a Christian girl is pressured by her boyfriend to have sex, her fairy god-mother intervenes and reminds her of her place in God's kingdom. "I am the daughter of the king of kings, and no one should treat me as anything less than a princess!"

A non-Christian audience is less likely to be interested in a Biblical perspective or a True Love Waits theme. You'll probably bring the Bible themes into your lesson, but in the skit leading up to the lesson, you need to grab their attention. For the non-Christian, that means addressing the consequences of sex outside God's plan: AIDS, pregnancy, and emotional pain. A skit like "Honeymoon Horror" would be more appropriate. This is a much more up front, in-your-face approach to the theme than "Princess." It begins with a couple in their honeymoon suite professing their virginity to each other. The romantic moment is interrupted by a game show host, who brings out a wide range of guests. Cheerleaders, basketball players, twins, bosses, and total strangers parade on stage to make a powerful point: everytime you sleep with someone out of wedlock, you're also sleeping with everyone else they slept with!

The point is to be careful in selecting the approach to your theme. Not only that, some subjects are best reserved for one audience or the other. "The Trinity" is not a likely topic to captivate the unchurched crowd, and "How to Become a Christian" will be the same lesson retold for the one-million-and-sixth time for the Christians.

You also need to pay attention to the age of the crowd. You can generally go deeper in depth with an older audience than a junior high audience. And some topics are really too sensitive to discuss with junior highers. Skits on rape and other sexual issues may bring snickers and giggles from a less mature crowd.

Once you settle on your approach, the second restricting factor is your own drama troupe. You need to find a script that will fit the mix of guys and girls in your group. "Honeymoon Horror" may make the point you want, but unless you have ten guys in the drama group, you better keep searching. However, don't allow yourself to be restricted to the scriptwriter's will. If that "perfect" script was written for too many guys, you might be able to change some of the characters to girls.

You also want to look at the difficulty of the roles and determine whether or not you have the talent to cover all the roles. Not every kids can cry. Not every kid can play the clown. Not every kid can play accents. Sometimes it's fun to give a kid a chance to stretch, and I encourage you to push them to grow as performers. Just don't give them something too over their heads. Or in other words, don't try to make an Adam Sandler play Othello. Simply put: it ain't gonna happen!

Drama materials can be found everywhere: magazines, books, youth curriculums, catalogs. How can you find the best material for your group?

The greatest test to see if a sketch will work on your youth is to let them read it. Teenagers are very honest about what's good and what's not. If they think something stinks, they will tell you in no uncertain terms. If you go drama shopping, take them along with you.

Also, anytime you can preview a script, or at least a specific writer's material, do it. A drama that looks great on paper may be completely dull on stage. And a script that looks stupid on paper may be great when brought to life. Remember, drama is meant to be seen and heard, not read.

Look for skits that take place in one location only. It's too complicated to try and switch locations in the middle of a five minute skit. Keep things as simple as possible.

If you use published dramas, don't be afraid to revise, rewrite, or adapt them. Most of the skits published in books are two to three years old before they hit the shelf. Therefore, since the youth culture "reinvents" itself every six months, the words, phrases, etc. in a script could have gone "in" and "out" three times already. Remember the "Macarena"? We used it opening night of our youth outreach program in the fall of 1996 and got a terrific response. Not two weeks later, people were being lynched for even saying the "M" word!

The central truths will never change, but you'll be surprised how quickly fads can go in and out. Once again, let the kids be your guide in the rewriting.

Another strategy for keeping up with the youth culture is to write your own material. However, this requires a gifted writer with a love of God and a desire to serve him with their talent. Maybe you are that writer. Maybe it's another person in your church. And don't overlook the kids in the group! Who knows better how the world looks through the eyes of a teenager? At the very least, they are valuable co-authors.

Don't forget the third ingredient to theater is a story, not a script. You may use outlines or take a general topic to create your own scenes. One technique we have used to develop new material is to break the kids into smaller groups, give them topics, give them twenty minutes, and let them create their own skits. Not every dramatic work that comes out of these improvised scenes will be a masterpiece, but on occasion you'll find a diamond in the rough. Take the basic idea, mold it, shape it, and rehearse it until it is stageworthy. The end result will be a scene that is not only genuine, but a scene that will become very special to the kids who created it.

There is certainly nothing wrong with using published material. Part of my reason for running this web site is to allow you to use my own work. I have some Free Scripts posted on the site, as well as a Drama Catalog full of skits, plays, and books. If what you see is not to your taste, check around on the Internet and in your Christian bookstore. Drama ministry is an ever-growing field, and more and more options appear every day. There's bound to be something to fit your taste, style, and need.

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