Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Christian Dinner Theater

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n2drama
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Joined: 4/08/08
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Topic: Christian Dinner Theater
Posted: 4/08/08 at 2:37pm

Can anyone suggest some dinner theater scripts appropriate to present at the church?

TIA,

N2D

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ty.gab
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Joined: 7/18/07
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Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:14pm

mayhem in mayville.

...i have no clue who holds the rights.

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bbpchick
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Joined: 7/17/07
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Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:22pm

You may want to try a melodrama. They are clean, fun and great for dinner theater. People always have a lot of good clean fun and melodramas generally have easy sets and royalties aren't usually that high.

Kendra
www.murphysblackbartplayers.com
You are NEVER too old to dress up!

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n2drama
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Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:57pm

Thanks for the tips. Has anyone done any Pat Cook stuff? I want to preview "The Old Faith, Hope, and Charity" but Lillenas gets $30.00 for a preview script and I have a very small budget. I can't afford that much to just preview.

Thanks Again,

n2d

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DWolfman
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Joined: 7/07/05
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Posted: 4/09/08 at 10:50am

Thirty dollars is kinda steep. On the Lillenas webpage:

http://www.lillenas.com/nphweb/html/lmol/itempage.jsp?itemId=11963&nid=srch&catalogId=NA&catSecCd=NA&subCatSecCd=NA&subSubCatSecCd=NA

they have a section called "Sample Pages" with a "pdf" icon

on the right. If you click that icon, the entire script will pop

up, no charge. It isn't printable, but gives purchase info.

Even a man who is pure of heart...

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Lazy Bee
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Joined: 2/21/07
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:35am

You could also try looking at a series of short plays. There are some amongst these Christian Play Scripts (the link takes you to an overview page; clicking on a title will get you to a page where you can read the whole scripts on-line.) There are also some suitable entries on the Old Testament Plays page, notably an adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve", which could work well for dinner theatre, as you could split up the diary entries around the courses of the meal.

Stuart
Lazy Bee Scripts
http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk read complete play scripts on-line

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belle
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Joined: 9/12/06
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Posts: 75

Posted: 4/10/08 at 10:29pm

We've done dinner theater in our rural Methodist church for about 10 years. We've done Pat Cook's Hitching Post--great rural comedy--changed the 2 main characters to women because we have very few men actors. All my suggestions can be done with only 3-4 men and 5-8 women.

We did his All's Fair this year; it's sort of a sequel to HP. Requires a lot of lighting control as there are 3 different locations that have to be lighted individually. Better for an audience with imagination as there are several plots going on at once--like a soap opera. Both are squeaky clean.

Did Maid to Order (Samuel French). Very funny. Not a murder mystery. Has a guy dressed as a women as a disguise. Football for bust.

The Butler Did it Again and Love is Murder by Tim Kelly are great. Characters are created by their similarity to famous authors, mystery or romance. Very clean. We also did Kelly's The Trouble with Summer People--the Puckle sisters are a hoot. One starts a sentence and the other finishes it. Butler refers to voodoo drums but that's the extent of the occult.

We did It's Murder in the Wings--big cast and needs a gurney, but funny.

We did Bone Chiller by Monk Ferris but wouldn't recommend it. It has a rebus that is hard to make big enough for the audience to see and some difficult props and effects. The plot is hard to follow. Also, has a large cast. Has just a touch of the occult, which may not go for some church groups.

We also did Occupation Murder, which has some audience participation. If you have a guy who can improvise and respond to the audience members chosen to participate, it will work fine.

We have developed a cast of people who really look forward to creating the play. We have new people, too, and those who drop out for various reasons, but the core keeps coming back and loving it.

We make good money and everyone feels good about the whole experience.

I hope it is an positive an experience for you as it is for us.

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Doodad
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Joined: 7/12/07
Location: United States
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Posted: 6/16/08 at 2:14pm

You didn't mention your group's experience level. That would make a difference.

Our church has an annual dinner drama that is in its 26th year. Many scripts from Christian sources are not too challenging for experienced actors, which means we are constantly looking for clean plays that may or may not have a Christian theme. (If it doesn't have a Christian theme, it ALWAYS has a redemptive message of some sort.)

A number of comments we have had were that people were thrilled to invite unchurched friends to a friendly entertainment that was clean and provided a chance for building friendships.

We did Those Crazy Ladies in the House on the Corner by Pat Cook last fall for our church's dinner drama. It is a very funny play about three sisters who over time have moved back into the same house. They have lived together so long that they all talk at the same time and can listen at the same time.

Their doctor is drunk toward the end with some funny results. However, since this was a church production and the scene was vital to the production, we thought we were going to have to look for something else. On a whim, the director e-mailed Pat Cook and asked for permission to rewrite the last scene. Mr. Cook replied that he was raised in the church and understood the situation and told us we could change it as needed.

In our production, the doctor is suffering from sleep-deprivation, and the actor had a lot of fun seeing how long he could keep the audience laughing without it getting old.

We had many positive comments from the show and even had some entertaining times during rehearsal.

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mary051756
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Joined: 1/31/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 47

Posted: 6/17/08 at 12:05pm

I have done Murder at the Banquet. By Robert LaVohn. Small cast- but lots of room for ad libs and audience inclusion.

It's a throwback to the old movie style private eyes and detectives.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” EMERSON

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bkpick
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Joined: 8/16/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 6/23/08 at 12:25am

We did "The Importance of Being Earnest" for a valentine banquet. We had a full house and it was a big hit.

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Play Suggestions
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Play Suggestions

Topic: Christian Dinner Theater( Topic Closed)
	Page of 2 Next >>

Author	Message
n2drama Player Joined: 4/08/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 24	Topic: Christian Dinner Theater Posted: 4/08/08 at 2:37pm
	Can anyone suggest some dinner theater scripts appropriate to present at the church? TIA, N2D

	IP Logged

ty.gab Walk-On Joined: 7/18/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:14pm
	mayhem in mayville. ...i have no clue who holds the rights.
	IP Logged

bbpchick Star Joined: 7/17/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 86	Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:22pm
	You may want to try a melodrama. They are clean, fun and great for dinner theater. People always have a lot of good clean fun and melodramas generally have easy sets and royalties aren't usually that high.
	Kendra www.murphysblackbartplayers.com You are NEVER too old to dress up!
	IP Logged

n2drama Player Joined: 4/08/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 24	Posted: 4/08/08 at 10:57pm
	Thanks for the tips. Has anyone done any Pat Cook stuff? I want to preview "The Old Faith, Hope, and Charity" but Lillenas gets $30.00 for a preview script and I have a very small budget. I can't afford that much to just preview. Thanks Again, n2d
	IP Logged

DWolfman Celebrity Joined: 7/07/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 134	Posted: 4/09/08 at 10:50am
	Thirty dollars is kinda steep. On the Lillenas webpage: http://www.lillenas.com/nphweb/html/lmol/itempage.jsp?itemId=11963&nid=srch&catalogId=NA&catSecCd=NA&subCatSecCd=NA&subSubCatSecCd=NA they have a section called "Sample Pages" with a "pdf" icon on the right. If you click that icon, the entire script will pop up, no charge. It isn't printable, but gives purchase info.
	Even a man who is pure of heart...
	IP Logged

Lazy Bee Star Joined: 2/21/07 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 89	Posted: 4/10/08 at 5:35am
	You could also try looking at a series of short plays. There are some amongst these Christian Play Scripts (the link takes you to an overview page; clicking on a title will get you to a page where you can read the whole scripts on-line.) There are also some suitable entries on the Old Testament Plays page, notably an adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve", which could work well for dinner theatre, as you could split up the diary entries around the courses of the meal.
	Stuart Lazy Bee Scripts http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk read complete play scripts on-line
	IP Logged

belle Star Joined: 9/12/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 75	Posted: 4/10/08 at 10:29pm
	We've done dinner theater in our rural Methodist church for about 10 years. We've done Pat Cook's Hitching Post--great rural comedy--changed the 2 main characters to women because we have very few men actors. All my suggestions can be done with only 3-4 men and 5-8 women. We did his All's Fair this year; it's sort of a sequel to HP. Requires a lot of lighting control as there are 3 different locations that have to be lighted individually. Better for an audience with imagination as there are several plots going on at once--like a soap opera. Both are squeaky clean. Did Maid to Order (Samuel French). Very funny. Not a murder mystery. Has a guy dressed as a women as a disguise. Football for bust. The Butler Did it Again and Love is Murder by Tim Kelly are great. Characters are created by their similarity to famous authors, mystery or romance. Very clean. We also did Kelly's The Trouble with Summer People--the Puckle sisters are a hoot. One starts a sentence and the other finishes it. Butler refers to voodoo drums but that's the extent of the occult. We did It's Murder in the Wings--big cast and needs a gurney, but funny. We did Bone Chiller by Monk Ferris but wouldn't recommend it. It has a rebus that is hard to make big enough for the audience to see and some difficult props and effects. The plot is hard to follow. Also, has a large cast. Has just a touch of the occult, which may not go for some church groups. We also did Occupation Murder, which has some audience participation. If you have a guy who can improvise and respond to the audience members chosen to participate, it will work fine. We have developed a cast of people who really look forward to creating the play. We have new people, too, and those who drop out for various reasons, but the core keeps coming back and loving it. We make good money and everyone feels good about the whole experience. I hope it is an positive an experience for you as it is for us.
	IP Logged

Doodad Walk-On Joined: 7/12/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/16/08 at 2:14pm
	You didn't mention your group's experience level. That would make a difference. Our church has an annual dinner drama that is in its 26th year. Many scripts from Christian sources are not too challenging for experienced actors, which means we are constantly looking for clean plays that may or may not have a Christian theme. (If it doesn't have a Christian theme, it ALWAYS has a redemptive message of some sort.) A number of comments we have had were that people were thrilled to invite unchurched friends to a friendly entertainment that was clean and provided a chance for building friendships. We did Those Crazy Ladies in the House on the Corner by Pat Cook last fall for our church's dinner drama. It is a very funny play about three sisters who over time have moved back into the same house. They have lived together so long that they all talk at the same time and can listen at the same time. Their doctor is drunk toward the end with some funny results. However, since this was a church production and the scene was vital to the production, we thought we were going to have to look for something else. On a whim, the director e-mailed Pat Cook and asked for permission to rewrite the last scene. Mr. Cook replied that he was raised in the church and understood the situation and told us we could change it as needed. In our production, the doctor is suffering from sleep-deprivation, and the actor had a lot of fun seeing how long he could keep the audience laughing without it getting old. We had many positive comments from the show and even had some entertaining times during rehearsal.
	IP Logged

mary051756 Lead Joined: 1/31/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 47	Posted: 6/17/08 at 12:05pm
	I have done Murder at the Banquet. By Robert LaVohn. Small cast- but lots of room for ad libs and audience inclusion. It's a throwback to the old movie style private eyes and detectives.
	“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” EMERSON
	IP Logged

bkpick Walk-On Joined: 8/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/23/08 at 12:25am
	We did "The Importance of Being Earnest" for a valentine banquet. We had a full house and it was a big hit.
	IP Logged