The "Hows" of Church Drama
What's the Biggest Problem with Church Drama?
After most people find scripts and configure ways to use the people they have, they are challenged by finding quality acting talent.
From a Disciples of Christ pastor near Indianapolis with a strong background in theater, "The worst part is finding enough people with voices that can be heard."
Another person with roots in community theater who is now bringing drama to a United Methodist Church in Michigan describes these challenges: "Probably the hardest part is finding material which addresses the exact issue we would like to convey, followed closely by finding sufficient thespians to produce the material in a believable format."
Why is church drama so notorious for attracting bad actors? Many church directors, myself included, try to use everyone who is interested and has the time to give. That means -- to borrow a biblical image -- we get the weeds and the grain together. But with the turning of enough seasons, like any farm or garden, the seeds we intend to plant become the stuff that grows. These acting gifts of great voices and believability emerge from ordinary people, and little by little a standard of excellence becomes the norm. Starting a drama program is no less challenging than developing a choir where no music had been. It takes time.
But church drama has another theatrical nightmare. People's expectation of it is some kind artless, distortion because it is in church. A while back I was working on a little dramatic vignette for a worship service, and we came to one of those amazing moments when everything was perfect. The six-year-old-- new to drama -- and an experienced adult woman had a scene together. The six-year-old came with his part already memorized. His mother sat proudly in the back of the church knowing her child was prepared to amaze us. And he did. He spoke his first line and the adult actor played off of his delivery, and with each line the acting dissolved into an experience of truth. When they finished we were stunned. In the gap before I could collect an appropriate superlative to break the silence, the mother shouted from the back. " Now Andrew, you need to speak to the audience, not to the people on stage. After all, the actors already know what your are going to say. And remember, this is church. You don't want it to sound like ordinary conversation, you want to use your church voice." Maybe that stilted, grandiose style used in old time bible movies lives on because people expect it and are calling it the "church voice." Acting in church is not a different kind of acting. It is the same art form. It is best when it sounds natural -- believable, offering the audience the illusion of the first time these words were said.
Some Random Suggestions from Various People and a Variety of Experiences
- Start small. If your congregation is unfamiliar with participating in drama in church, start with short vignettes that use small casts. If you have a lot of people interested, do a series of short vignettes to use more actors and offers more "major" roles too. In this way, there are no small parts only small plays.
- Begin each project with an awareness of the limitations of the staging area and don't include more seats in the house than can see and hear easily. If you can only have two or three gathered in the audience, and they can all see and hear isn't that better than a crowd in which no one has an idea of what's going on? (If you use mics-- rehearse with mics.)
- Rehearsal schedules are the hardest -- especially for green actors who don't know how essential rehearsals altogether are. Always be prompt and hold practices whenever they are scheduled. Don't call the whole cast unless you use the whole cast so everyone who is scheduled to come to rehearsal is needed. That means rehearsals have to be planned carefully. Rehearsals are part of the experience-- they are not just a means to an end.
- Be firm about showing up for each rehearsal. Be ready to replace actors or cut parts if someone misses. It isn't fair to the others to have people missing from practices.
- Don't use shabby sets and old bathrobes for costumes -- it makes the actors feel foolish and the audience assumes you were just pretending to have a play. If you don't have a budget for costumes do something else intentional. All black is always a dramatic effect, with perhaps one special item in color to define characters and help the audience know who is who. Have a group "Dyeing Day" when your cast comes together to dye white t-shirts in colors that fit their individual characters. The t-shirts will look alike but different.
- Get with others doing drama and pool your resources. Churches can share costumes, but it is essential to have one person keeping track so that things can get returned. Some church drama groups naturally share actors with other theater groups and this can be an opportunity for exchanges of props and costume pieces. You can also borrow from the congregation. Each time you borrow a prop or costume piece and you acknowledge it in the program, you have added at least one person and sometimes a family to the audience. People want to see the handkerchief they loaned in the spotlight.
Do you have suggestions to share? E-mail Wild Grace. We may post them here, and you will have generously shared with others in need.
