Christmas Leads Us Home

“Christmas Leads Us Home” Story Page
written by Frederick Passmore
copyright 2013 Sheep Laughs Publications

Synopsis: A new play in the “No Lines to Learn” narrated format, this script (approximately 50 minutes) deals with a mother’s difficult relationship with a wayward daughter, as well as her fears for the soul of a son in the military. A flashback to a family Christmas party from 20 years before is framed by a current-day drama in the nursing home where the mother is staying. This is a powerful play that will touch everyone, which includes the Nativity story and the visit by the Wise Men, as well as a place for the kids to sing live! There are parts for all ages. AND, once again, a song from two-time Grammy award nominee Archie Jordan is part of the production!

(Soundtrack key: NO LINES TO LEARN, the Skit Trax supply the narration, background music and sound effects.)

Length of play: 50 minutes.
Number of cast: Eleven adults, with all the children extras you can recruit. Most of the adult parts are small, only about four of the main parts are the focus of the play.
Category: Christmas, Dramatic, No Lines To Learn,
Price of script PDF & Skit Trax MP3: Instant Download ONLY:$19.99 Add to Cart
Price of script PDF & Physical CD:  $24.99 plus shipping: Add To Cart

YOU MAY ALSO ORDER THE SCRIPT AND SOUNDTRACK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

This page presents the story of “Christmas Leads Us Home” script in a short descriptive form, so that you can decide if you want to do it, and all the scene descriptions and narration.

All Characters: Trudy McCloud, the main character. Her prodigal daughter Cassie (the older adult and younger teen version could be played be two actresses if desired). her husband Jack; Her elderly father, known as Grandpa to everyone; her elderly mother, her sister Gladys and her husband Joe with their four children of varying ages; her grown son Trent who is in the military; her brother Clyde (who plays Santa in the flashback scenes) and his wife and three kids; fellow nursing home resident Miss Jolene.

Characters broken down by time frame:
Characters for the Framework nursing home scenes: Trudy McCloud, the lady whose story is being told. Her grown prodigal daughter, Cassie. Her sister, Gladys; her sister’s husband, Joe; fellow resident Miss Jolene.

Characters for the Flashback scenes: The younger Trudy; her husband Jack; her elderly father, known to all as Grandpa; her elderly mother; the teen-aged Cassie; her brother Clyde and his wife and their three kids; her sister Gladys, her husband Joe and her 4 kids; her grown son Trent who is in the Army. Note that some of the kids can play parts in the Story of the Wise Men retelling by Grandpa. All of them can sing when the time comes in the script.

Note: The older Trudy and younger Trudy should be played by two actresses, that are age-appropriate and resemble each other. Likewise with Cassie.

About Trudy: Her age in the nursing home is suggested by her posture and motions, suggesting a disease that is limiting her movement. Also wearing a shawl to keep warm.

Prop list:
Props for the nursing home scenes: a metal walker. A shopping bag with some small wrapped boxes in it. A round metal tin containing some cookies. A Bible that Trudy reads. A Santa hat.

Props for the flashback scenes: a small wrapped present for each child; a wrapped frame containing a photo of the son Trent in his military fatigues; a large doll to stand in for the infant Jesus who is visited by the Wise Men; gifts in ornate boxes for the Wise Men to present to Him; a large Bible that Grandpa reads.

Costumes; a Santa suit for the flashback scenes when Uncle Clyde is playing Santa for the kids; army fatigues for the soldier son; simple robes for the children’s Biblical skit; a shawl for the aged Trudy.

Sets: One side of the set is devoted to a small nursing home room, with a comfortable chair and table with a very small Christmas tree on it. A tall floor lamp would look good also. An extra chair for a visitor needs to be here. If you wish, you could have a small painted backdrop that depicts a snowy scene outside her window. Or, hang some curtains that are drawn as if there is a window there. This is an optional item.
The other side, taking up more of the stage, is a living room in her home for the flashback scenes where most of the action happens. There should be as much effort possible to make it look like a comfortable and inviting living room decorated for Christmas.
About the split set: Perhaps you could suggest having a curtain over all, then have it pulled back for one scene, then pulled back over for the scene on the other side. The curtain goes back and forth to cover the side not being viewed, that is. Or, simply use stage or spotlights on the side where the action is and darken the other side.

“Christmas Leads Us Home” Story
by Frederick Passmore

(A general description of the script; not all details or scenes are here, but it gives you an overall picture of what it is like.)

Scene one: The play begins in present day, in a nursing home with the main character Trudy resides. It is Christmas Eve, and her younger sister and her husband are visiting her. They invite her to come home with them for Christmas, but she is committed to waiting on her yearly visit from her troubled adult daughter, Cassie. When they leave, she occupies her mind while waiting with reliving memories of her best Christmas, one that happened twenty years earlier. The curtain is drawn from the other side of the stage, and the side where Trudy is, is covered by the curtain as the action is scene on the other side, on the “flashback to home” side of the stage.

Preview a PDF page of the script that contains the scene above by clicking here: Christmas_Leads_Us_Home_sample_01

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

Scene two: As Trudy narrates, we see her family all arriving for the Christmas Eve get-together that happened twenty years before. Her sister’s family, her brother’s family, her mother and father, and her daughter all come in. Her teen daughter Cassie is not happy to be there, as she would rather be with friends at their party. Her son Trent is missing, because he is in the Army and was unable to come home on furlough as he had planned. Grandpa starts things off with a prayer, then he has everyone join in a family Christmas carol, which is sung live, (a cappella) by the actors, while the CD is paused.

After the song, the CD begins again, as Grandpa reads the Nativity story from the Bible. After that, Trudy gets a call from her son Trent, who wanted to come home for the holidays but was unable. She has been praying for his salvation for years, and he tells her that she is reaching him when she asks him about it. After the call, she talks to her daughter Cassie to try to get her involved in the party, but she is not happy being there. She is starting to rebel against her parents and their upbringing. Trudy’s mother gets her son Clyde to run out to get some flour, which is a ruse to get him out of the picture so he can dress up as Santa for the handing out of the presents. The kids leave to get ready to do their re-enactment of the visit by the Wise Men, and the scene goes back to the present at the nursing home.

Preview a PDF page of the script that contains the scene above by clicking here: Christmas_Leads_Us_Home_sample_02

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

Scene three: Trudy is visited by friend and fellow resident Miss Jolene, who tries to cheer her up as she waits for her daughter. She prays with her over Cassie’s salvation, and then Cassie finally arrives. She has had troubles in her life due to her lifestyle of rebellion, and her mother recognizes that she still has drug abuse issues and bad choices of partners. Miss Jolene leaves, and Cassie shows her resentment of her mother’s faith, which she rejects and perceives as condemnation of her lifestyle. She leaves, upsetting Trudy and she falls as she tries to get up and follow Cassie out of the room, but Miss Jolene comes to the rescue and helps her back into her chair.

Preview a PDF page of the script that contains the scene above by clicking here: Christmas_Leads_Us_Home_sample_03

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

Scene four: Flashing back to the family Christmas party, we hear Grandpa read the story of the Wise Men and the kids act it out as he does. Once this is over, Cassie catches her mother when she is distracted and asks for permission to step outside for a few moments. She uses the opportunity to call a friend and have her come get her, sneaking off. Grandpa has the kids sing a song or two by themselves, this gives the children in the play a chance to sing some Christmas songs of the director’s choosing.

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

When they are done, everyone comes into the living room and Uncle Clyde comes in dressed as Santa to hand out presents to the kids. As he is distributing the gifts, Trudy goes out of the room to look for her daughter and realizes that Cassie has succeeded in sneaking away. When she comes back in, “Santa” has a present for her, which is a framed portrait of her son Trent. As she us showing it around, she expresses her sadness at his not being there. When, to everyone’s surprise, “Santa” removes his hat and beard to reveal that he is really her son Trent, home from overseas. She has a moving reunion with him, and afterwards, dinner is served and everyone goes in the dining room to enjoy it, offstage… ending the flashback scene.

Preview a PDF page of the script that contains the scene above by clicking here: Christmas_Leads_Us_Home_sample_04

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

Scene five: back in current day at the nursing home; narrated again by Grandpa. Cassie is lingering in the hallway outside her mother’s room, debating over whether to leave or go back in. Miss Jolene catches her and tells her that her mother is not doing well and may not be here the next time she visits on Christmas. She urges her to make amends while she still can, or she would never forgive herself. She already carries the regret of not being there when her brother surprised everyone with his visit. Going back in, she apologizes to her mother, and tells her she is tired of her old life, and wants her mother to pray with her. As Trudy reads scriptures about receiving the Lord, we hear the song by composer Archie Jordan titled “Won’t You?” Cassie prays the sinners prayer and is saved as the song plays. Afterward, she and her mother have a good time together talking. She leaves knowing that she won’t have to face her troubles alone any more. 

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

When she has left, Trudy prays and thanks the Lord for answering her prayer concerning her daughter. We find out that she never saw Trent again after that last visit home twenty years ago, as he had been killed in action by a car bomb. She never knew if he had been saved before it happened. Her head drops down as she prays, and when Miss Jolene comes in, she cannot rouse her. She runs to get help, passing by three people entering that she cannot see. They are Trudy’s husband, her mother and father, all of who have passed on in years before. They wake her, and on seeing them she thinks she is dreaming. They tell her she is not, as they help her out of the chair and tell her they have come to welcome her home, as she has passed now also. No longer sick or infirm, Trudy rejoices in her new-found health. As they are leaving with her, escorting her to her new Heavenly home, she sees a figure coming to greet her… her son Trent, who had accepted the Lord before entering eternity. After another emotional reunion with him, this time for good, they take her out the back to go see the Lord, who is waiting to welcome her.

END

Preview a PDF page of the script that contains the scene above by clicking here: Christmas_Leads_Us_Home_sample_05

Preview the section of the soundtrack that is heard during the scene above by clicking on the player below.

Read some of the testimonials about the script from just a few of the many users:

Hello again, Fred!

The Jordan Chapel Church of God in Edgehill, GA will be doing “Christmas Leads Us Home” on the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in December.

We did your narrated play “the Christmas Family” 2 years ago and loved it!! We are a small church and I was concerned we wouldn’t have a large enough cast for “Christmas Leads Us Home,” but we do this year and I can’t wait to start! Everyone loved the last play we did, complimenting that it was so enjoyable because they didn’t have to worry about not understanding the storyline because someone forgot their lines or wasn’t talking loud enough. Thanks so much for this format – it works great for us and is a lot easier to cast for!

-W. Jones

Fred,

The Current River Baptist Church in Doniphan, MO did your play “Christmas Leads Us Home” this past December.

Everyone loved the play!! Received many compliments and had many people in tears…. God has definitely blessed you with an amazing talent and thanks for sharing so others can be blessed!! Can’t wait until Christmas to do another one of your amazing plays!! We have several older members at our church and it helps them so much to be able to hear the plays now since we use the soundtrack. We always had the problem before of several of the audience not being able to hear and now that’s not a problem with your soundtracks. Thanks again!!

Sincerely,

-Katrina

Okay, if you liked the story breakdown, and enjoyed the sample pages and listened to the Skit Trax audio previews, and were encouraged by the testimonials of those that have done it, buy the complete script and soundtrack here! 

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