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Conversation With God - Notes for the Director Requirements Cast: 2 roles: 1 male onstage, (The script can easily be rewritten for a female.) and the voice of God offstage. Costume: There is no particular costume required for the onstage person, other than a tie which is removed in Act 2. The same tie is used in Act 3. (If rewritten for a woman, you may feel free to change it to earrings or something else.) Technical: Sound system and offstage microphone for the voice of God. No special lighting or sound effects are required. Set: A small sofa and a chair arranged to look like a den. Other furniture like a bookshelf or coffee table are optional. Notes: This piece is excellent if you have either a limited number of performers, or if you have only 1 or 2 actors who are asking for something meatier and more labor intensive than a 5 minute skit. You really only need 1 person willing to put in the time it takes to memorize the lines, since the voice of God reads his lines on an offstage mic. The onstage person goes from an emotional high in the first act, to mellowed but still interested in the second act, to annoyed then irate in the 3rd act. You should see the initial zeal and joy become a duty, which eventually becomes something the character wants to avoid altogether. God remains the same. Whatever you do, don't bring God off as a domineering "I told you so, you loser." type of personality. He is firm at times, but it's always in a caring "I have your best interests at heart." kind of way. When he's rejected in Act 3, you should be able to feel the pain of a jilted lover through his voice. You should not feel that he's angrily turned his back and left. My thoughts: I wrote this after unsuccessfully attempting to put on "The Fourth Wall" twice, which requires 8 parts, 4 of which are very lengthy. People moved away a few months into rehearsal both times and there were simply too many people to cast and not enough interest around me to fill the voids. If you have a large drama group, I suggest checking it out. I consciously decided to write a piece for just 2 people. It would be much easier to find one other dedicated actor than it would be to find 7 others. I decided on "Conversation With God" because I was currently writing "Conversation With Satan" and I wanted a prelude to that piece. I wrote the first act with someone else in mind as the onstage actor. Dawn is a high spirited, always smiling, eternally excited person who fit the joyful exuberance I wanted for the first act. I started the second act with her in mind as well, but then she moved away. I continued writing knowing that I, a much more cerebral, quieter, introverted person, would most likely be playing the onstage role. The middle of act 2 is a weird blend of both of us, with the end of act 2 neatly transitioning into me. Act 3 is most definitely all me. I will eternally be amazed at how the Holy Spirit creates these pieces through me, and this blend of 2 people was my post-writing inspiration for this piece. As I read it, I realized just how much I couldn't have written this the way it turned out had events not occurred the way they had. At the beginning of act 2, I spent several months fighting with how to continue. Nothing felt right. Until I altered the character, it just wasn't working. Had I begun the piece with me in mind in the first act, it never would have got off the ground. I am the pen. Conversation With God if you would like to jump straight to the play from here.

Conversation With God - Notes for the Director

Requirements

Cast: 2 roles: 1 male onstage, (The script can easily be rewritten for a female.) and the voice of God offstage.

Costume: There is no particular costume required for the onstage person, other than a tie which is removed in Act 2. The same tie is used in Act 3. (If rewritten for a woman, you may feel free to change it to earrings or something else.)

Technical: Sound system and offstage microphone for the voice of God. No special lighting or sound effects are required.

Set: A small sofa and a chair arranged to look like a den. Other furniture like a bookshelf or coffee table are optional.

Notes: This piece is excellent if you have either a limited number of performers, or if you have only 1 or 2 actors who are asking for something meatier and more labor intensive than a 5 minute skit. You really only need 1 person willing to put in the time it takes to memorize the lines, since the voice of God reads his lines on an offstage mic.

The onstage person goes from an emotional high in the first act, to mellowed but still interested in the second act, to annoyed then irate in the 3rd act. You should see the initial zeal and joy become a duty, which eventually becomes something the character wants to avoid altogether.

God remains the same. Whatever you do, don't bring God off as a domineering "I told you so, you loser." type of personality. He is firm at times, but it's always in a caring "I have your best interests at heart." kind of way. When he's rejected in Act 3, you should be able to feel the pain of a jilted lover through his voice. You should not feel that he's angrily turned his back and left.

My thoughts: I wrote this after unsuccessfully attempting to put on "The Fourth Wall" twice, which requires 8 parts, 4 of which are very lengthy. People moved away a few months into rehearsal both times and there were simply too many people to cast and not enough interest around me to fill the voids. If you have a large drama group, I suggest checking it out.

I consciously decided to write a piece for just 2 people. It would be much easier to find one other dedicated actor than it would be to find 7 others. I decided on "Conversation With God" because I was currently writing "Conversation With Satan" and I wanted a prelude to that piece.

I wrote the first act with someone else in mind as the onstage actor. Dawn is a high spirited, always smiling, eternally excited person who fit the joyful exuberance I wanted for the first act. I started the second act with her in mind as well, but then she moved away. I continued writing knowing that I, a much more cerebral, quieter, introverted person, would most likely be playing the onstage role. The middle of act 2 is a weird blend of both of us, with the end of act 2 neatly transitioning into me. Act 3 is most definitely all me.

I will eternally be amazed at how the Holy Spirit creates these pieces through me, and this blend of 2 people was my post-writing inspiration for this piece. As I read it, I realized just how much I couldn't have written this the way it turned out had events not occurred the way they had. At the beginning of act 2, I spent several months fighting with how to continue. Nothing felt right. Until I altered the character, it just wasn't working. Had I begun the piece with me in mind in the first act, it never would have got off the ground.

I am the pen.

Conversation With God if you would like to jump straight to the play from here.