Production

How to Build a Drama Team from Scratch (Part 1: Monologues)

If you are like me, you’ve seen an amazingly impactful drama done at a creative/leadership conferences or large church with a multi-million dollar annual budgets and longed to create something similar in your own congregation.

However, starting a drama team from scratch can seem extremely daunting, especially if you don’t have any previous experience in the area. So how do you create an impactful team from scratch, especially if you don’t have access to a big budget or deep talent pool? Allow me to share what has worked for me.

Monologues

A great place to start is with a monologue, which is a scene involving only one actor. Monologues are great for telling a story from a personal perspective and showcasing the humanity behind a biblical figure or event. These can be filmed or performed live in front of the congregation. Meet with your creative team and carve out a message series that can utilize a monologue as the creative element in each message.

Next you will want to recruit your talent pool. Look to naturally outgoing, expressive people in your congregation such as your door greeters or small group leaders. The right people will most likely come to mind immediately. Connect with these people and ask them if they would be interested in an exciting new creative opportunity that you will be starting at the church. Once they are on board, you will want to focus on your script.

Writing A Monologue

To write a good monologue, I start with research. I look at all of the Biblical text surrounding the events I want to portray and take notes on specific language or events I want to include in the monologue. Then I make a general outline to focus the direction and shape of the speech. This is where I consider taking artistic liberty with the story and adding in more detail that is not found in the Biblical text. Contrary to what you may think, this is not heresy, this is a dance that the writer must undertake to bring the story to life in a way that is meaningful for their congregation.

Think of the biblical text as the skeleton and your script will now flesh out the rest of that character in full detail. Ask yourself some questions: What would this character have to say if they were telling their story in a chronological fashion? What sights, smells, and sounds would they experience? What feelings would they have about the events? What do these events mean for their relationships with the other people in their lives?

What conflict is this character struggling with and what plan will they make to overcome it? Monologues are simply a dramatic medium to tell a story. Have fun, put yourself in their shoes, and try to connect on an emotional level with your character. Once you have a script, run it by your teaching pastor to see if they have any ideas for specific language to include that will reinforce their message (also to make sure you have not committed any heresy).

Directing and Rehearsing With an Actor

Send the script out to your actor and schedule two (or more) rehearsals with them, being sure to communicate any deadlines you will have for memorization. When you meet with the actor, you want them to get to a point with the script where they are not worried about what line will come next, and where they can simply tell the story in an authentic way. Have the actor picture a specific person in their life that is similar to the audience the character is talking to.

Have the actor place that person in the room and have the actor come up with one verb to describe the action their character is taking towards that person (i.e. to convince, to comfort, to belittle, etc). Then run through the monologue. Once you have achieved that, build on it and have the actor decide what they want from that person. It can be a tangible object or it can be a response (help, sympathy, action, money, etc). Tell the actor to imagine what reactions that person would have to the script as they are acting. Next let them decide what tactic they want to employ to achieve their goal (anger, flattery, etc). By using this technique, the actor will know who they are talking to, what they want from them, and how they are going to get it. Run through the monologue again and let them ride the emotional rollercoaster you have set out before them.

Monologue Attire

As far as clothing for your actor, you don’t need to rush out and find biblical clothing in order for the performance to be effective. When I have an actor delivering a monologue, I tell them to dress simply and comfortably, with a plain black shirt and jeans. This attire puts your actor at ease, and puts the focus of the congregation on their portrayal of the character and not the budget of the production. It also helps to place your character in a modern setting, allowing for the congregation to better see themselves in the character.

Performance Day, Live

Schedule with your tech team to get time for your actor to run through the monologue on stage, with a microphone, in costume, on the day of the performance. Often this means having the worship team start and end practice 10 minutes early. Wireless head mics work best for actors so they are free to gesture with both hands. If you don’t have access to a wireless head mic, have your actor hold a stick or a cup while they practice the monologue so they are used to acting and gesturing with only one hand.

Let your actor do a mic check and run through the monologue, preferably with your musicians and tech team in the room. This will give them a dry run and be able to gauge timing for laughter with an audience (if there are moments of comedy). Run through any service cues that happen right before the monologue so they know when to enter. After the dry run, encourage the actor and reinforce their confidence! This is not a time for major adjustments. What you have at this point is what you will have for the performance. Remind them of all the hard work they have put in, take a moment to relax, and remind them to have fun.

Performance Day, Film

Have all your equipment set up and ready to go prior to the actor’s arrival. This respects their time and will help put them at ease and ensure them that you have everything taken care of. Remind them of the choices they made during the rehearsal process (who they are talking to, what they want, how they will get it), and encourage them about how excited you are to have them helping on this project. During filming, try to be as encouraging as you can (silently) with head nods, smiles, etc. behind the camera. Run through the monologue several times until you have a solid performance. It would be ideal for it to be a single take, but it is also up to you to utilize your footage creatively to best suite the needs of the project.

Follow Up

During the week after the performance, send a note (preferably hand-written) to the actor and thank them for their time and energy as well as any specific compliments you heard from others or can offer yourself. This will make sure their efforts have not gone unnoticed and help them feel valued. Remember, whatever you reinforce will be repeated in the future. Your project has hopefully struck a chord with your congregation and other people that are interested in being in the next drama will start to come out of the wood works. Tell your staff to keep their ears open for anyone that expresses an interest in helping out. You can start to build a database of actors, writers, stage hands, etc. that you can utilize for your next dramatic endeavor.

What It Might Look Like:

Here is an example of a filmed monologue I wrote for our Christmas series. It is written from the perspective of Jesus as an adult, looking back on His birth:
 

 
You can see the style of writing I employ by blending Biblical text with artistic interpretation without committing heresy (hopefully).