As I said in the first post, the play was performed initially for parents of children in the Vacation Bible School at St. James Anglican Church. That was the beginning of August, 2010. Later the same month, my husband and I (we're both Third Order Franciscans) attended a Franciscan Convocation in Washington State. I gave a copy of the play to one of our sisters, who made a number of copies. Then, one evening, the copies were handed out and the members (about 30 Franciscans) did a spontaneous "dramatic reading" of the play. I'm happy to say that the play was enthusiastically received by the children in the Bible School and by the Franciscans at the convocation. I couldn't have asked for more! It meant that the kids enjoyed their involvement, and the Franciscans were happy with the content.
I hope that if any readers or followers of this blog perform the play or see it performed, that they (you) will send me a comment, and if possible, a photo or two, and let me know how it went. (The play will be entered in this blog scene by scene. At the moment, "this site is under construction", as they say.)
I'm offering the play free of charge, but with these 2 provisos: #1 If you perform the play, or produce it in any way, please give a link to this blog in your programs. #2 If you charge money to your audience, please pay at least 10% to a charity that (a) supports a Christian church, or (b) supports the welfare of children, or (c) supports the safety and well-being of animals or other environmental causes. My favourite charities are: World Vision, Covenant House, Canadian Wildlife, and the SPCA (any branch). In the Canadian Anglican Church, you might support the PWRDF (Primate's World Relief & Development Fund). Do not send me any money.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The play introduction
In 2010, I wrote a play called The Wolf and the Saint, the Life of St. Francis of Assisi as Told by The Wolf of Gubbio. In early August of that year, I led a Vacation Bible School at St. James Anglican Church, Vancouver, BC, Canada. We had only about half a dozen children there, ages 4 to 12.
Our Vacation Bible School ran for 5 days, morning to noon. I asked volunteers to come in and serve the children breakfast, and then again give them lunch. This was because, the previous year some children came and brought muffins, others came with nothing to eat, and it seemed simpler to give them their meals at the church--that way, everyone had the same thing.
After breakfast, the parish priest led a simple prayer and Bible reading opening, and then I got them for about half an hour to work on the play.
The play has four acts, so we did one act a day and performed it for parents on the fifth day.
After our half hour reading and acting out the act, the children then moved on to a crafts table where another volunteer helped them make puppets for the play. Then, they had an activity that let them run and work off some of their energy before the priest led them in a closing prayer and they had lunch. Sometimes parents joined them for lunch.
Our Vacation Bible School ran for 5 days, morning to noon. I asked volunteers to come in and serve the children breakfast, and then again give them lunch. This was because, the previous year some children came and brought muffins, others came with nothing to eat, and it seemed simpler to give them their meals at the church--that way, everyone had the same thing.
After breakfast, the parish priest led a simple prayer and Bible reading opening, and then I got them for about half an hour to work on the play.
The play has four acts, so we did one act a day and performed it for parents on the fifth day.
After our half hour reading and acting out the act, the children then moved on to a crafts table where another volunteer helped them make puppets for the play. Then, they had an activity that let them run and work off some of their energy before the priest led them in a closing prayer and they had lunch. Sometimes parents joined them for lunch.
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