ContentsBackgroundThis is simply a dramatised reading of John 5 - we wanted to liven up the reading as it was part of an all-age section in the service and we wanted to ensure the kids were engaged throughout. The Bible text is from the New Living Translation.(Although we hadn't known it at the time of writing apparently the Pool of Bethesda was very, very deep - as much as 13m so it could very easily have been deep enough to be a diving pool!) Rating
Characters
StagingNo special staging is required the Reader can be at a lectern or pulpit if available and the Interpreter can be stood nearby.ScriptReader: Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feast days.Interpreter: [acts eating & drinking] Chomp chomp gulp gulp Reader: Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, Interpreter: Baaaaa [ideally also wave a toy sheep around] Reader: ... was the pool of Bethesda Interpreter: What a marvelous dive from Tom Daly there he’s really looking good for gold in 2012 Reader: [To Interpreter] It’s a quiet serene pool not a diving pool Interpreter: Sorry Reader: Around the pool were five covered porches. Interpreter: [Basically an excuse to over-act driving a sports car around the congregation] Brrrm naow etc Reader: [Getting exasperated] No PORCHES not Porsches Interpreter: Oh right! Reader: There were crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—laying by pool. Interpreter: [tiny cough] Reader: Is that it? One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years!! Interpreter: 38 years that’s ages, that’s nearly as long as Blackers has been running Camp!!! [Obvious local gag - use something relevant to your situation instead] Reader: Quite! When Jesus saw the man he knew he had been ill for a long time, Jesus asked him, Interpreter: [Pause] Sorry was that my cue? Reader: [Firmly] Jesus asked him…… Interpreter: [Normally] Would you like to get well? Reader: ... and the man replied Interpreter: [In an East End accent] “I can’t, sir for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Reader: East End you had to go with East End. Interpreter: It’s Jerusalem we’re dan sarf innit tho? Reader: Jesus told him, Interpreter: [Commandingly] Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk! Reader: Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. Interpreter: I object!! Reader: They said to the man who was cured, Interpreter: You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat! It’s against Health & Safety don’t you know! Reader: The man was a little surprised ... Interpreter: [small Ooh!] Reader: ... as H&S legislation didn’t come in until the early 1900’s. But he replied, Interpreter: It weren’t guv the bloke what healed me told me to, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ Reader: The Jewish Leaders said Interpreter: [Posh accent] I say who said such a thing as that? Reader: The man explained, Interpreter: Uh I dunno - it was that tall bloke with a beard, y'know northern accent - he's over there ... oh ... he’s gone!? Reader: The man didn’t know Jesus name and he had disappeared into the crowd. Copyright © 2011 Jane And Mark Lewis. http://www.pottedjam.org Email: sketches@pottedjam.org Back to Top Back to Drama Homepage |
