HOME	STAGE PLAYS	SKITS	SCREENPLAYS	ESSAYS	NOVELS	CONTACT ME	LINKS
The Executioner - Notes for the Director Requirements Legal NoticeThis play is now owned by Christian Life Church in Clive, Iowa. If you need special permission to perform this, or if you would like to seek the publishing rights, you will need to talk with them. Cast: 5 roles: 2 men, 1 woman, 2 gender neutral. Although there are 5 roles, only 2 people are on stage at a time. It's possible to perform this with only 3 people, 2 of them playing multiple roles. Costume: You can use costumes, but I have performed this with black pants and white shirts for everybody. The problem with costumes is the main character changes from a 21st centruy man to a Roman Centurion on stage. Feel free to use period costumes or none at all. Technical: No sound or lighting effects required. Set: Only a chair is required. Notes: Make sure your stage is large enough so that Jack can wander around enough that he doesn't see the prostitute enter the scene behind him. I used a variety of exits, but they're not necessary if your exits are limited. This is an easier piece to practice because, for the most part, you only need 2 people at a time. If you find it difficult to get everybody together at once, this is a good piece to try. Like the costumes, no props are necessary. I have performed this play over a dozen times and we thought about increasing the production to actually include Jesus being brought in by Roman Soldiers, but I felt it worked better without it. The focus remains on Jack and how he's dealing with it. But feel free to experiment if you like. My thoughts: I had been out of drama for a while and was attending a Methodist church in Laurel, Iowa. I had been out of drama for several years for personal reasons and had been seeking God on whether or not I should get back into it. I told God that if he wanted me back in, he would have to come get me. I would not seek out an opportunity, but would accept whatever he sent my way. 2 weeks later, Neil Montz, the pastor at the time, asked me if I could possibly do the Good Friday service one year. I tried to convey to Neil just what an answer to prayer that request was, but I think I may have been crying too hard at the time. I wanted to do something special, something that conveyed the intimacy of the crucifixion experience. I wanted to personalize it for everybody in the audience that night. I looked around for the right play, but, as good as several of them were, they just didn't convey what I wanted to share. So I wrote "The Executioner". Jesus' nails were not made of steel, or iron, or bronze, or anything other metal. They were made from your sin and mine. Jesus was nailed to the cross by you and by me. Too often we see the events of the crucifixion as a noble pursuit of a far away God in a distant land. We don't fully understand just how closely we were involved. But it's that recognition of personal blame that makes the event so sweet. The intimacy of what Jesus did for us becomes so special if you realize that he didn't just take the nails for you, he took them from you. Jesus loved his enemies. He loved us. He looked into our eyes as we killed him and told us how much he loved us. I am the pen. The Executioner if would like to jump straight to the play from here.

The Executioner - Notes for the Director

Requirements

Legal NoticeThis play is now owned by Christian Life Church in Clive, Iowa. If you need special permission to perform this, or if you would like to seek the publishing rights, you will need to talk with them.

Cast: 5 roles: 2 men, 1 woman, 2 gender neutral. Although there are 5 roles, only 2 people are on stage at a time. It's possible to perform this with only 3 people, 2 of them playing multiple roles.

Costume: You can use costumes, but I have performed this with black pants and white shirts for everybody. The problem with costumes is the main character changes from a 21st centruy man to a Roman Centurion on stage. Feel free to use period costumes or none at all.

Technical: No sound or lighting effects required.

Set: Only a chair is required.

Notes: Make sure your stage is large enough so that Jack can wander around enough that he doesn't see the prostitute enter the scene behind him. I used a variety of exits, but they're not necessary if your exits are limited.

This is an easier piece to practice because, for the most part, you only need 2 people at a time. If you find it difficult to get everybody together at once, this is a good piece to try.

Like the costumes, no props are necessary. I have performed this play over a dozen times and we thought about increasing the production to actually include Jesus being brought in by Roman Soldiers, but I felt it worked better without it. The focus remains on Jack and how he's dealing with it. But feel free to experiment if you like.

My thoughts: I had been out of drama for a while and was attending a Methodist church in Laurel, Iowa. I had been out of drama for several years for personal reasons and had been seeking God on whether or not I should get back into it. I told God that if he wanted me back in, he would have to come get me. I would not seek out an opportunity, but would accept whatever he sent my way. 2 weeks later, Neil Montz, the pastor at the time, asked me if I could possibly do the Good Friday service one year. I tried to convey to Neil just what an answer to prayer that request was, but I think I may have been crying too hard at the time.

I wanted to do something special, something that conveyed the intimacy of the crucifixion experience. I wanted to personalize it for everybody in the audience that night. I looked around for the right play, but, as good as several of them were, they just didn't convey what I wanted to share. So I wrote "The Executioner".

Jesus' nails were not made of steel, or iron, or bronze, or anything other metal. They were made from your sin and mine. Jesus was nailed to the cross by you and by me. Too often we see the events of the crucifixion as a noble pursuit of a far away God in a distant land. We don't fully understand just how closely we were involved. But it's that recognition of personal blame that makes the event so sweet. The intimacy of what Jesus did for us becomes so special if you realize that he didn't just take the nails for you, he took them from you. Jesus loved his enemies. He loved us. He looked into our eyes as we killed him and told us how much he loved us.

I am the pen.

The Executioner if would like to jump straight to the play from here.