Young Writers Society

Setting
Carmel, in the land of Maon, outside Jerusalem

Pre-Reading
Derived from 1 Samuel 25.

King Samuel of Jerusalem has died; his son, David, has taken the throne and now rules Israel. David has shown mercy to his father’s enemies, the family line born from Saul. He is also wifeless. His journeys through Israel, seeking any enemies he may still have, begin. Meanwhile, Abigail and Nabal live life as they normally do; it is shearing season in Carmel.

Stage
The stage is divided into three portions. Backstage right is elevated on a platform, and built to resemble a biblical, Arabic abode. There are three distinct rooms in this house. There is a living space, with table and chairs in the center of the floor and a fireplace centered in the background, built into the wall; there is a small, narrow closet, with shelves and whatnot to store food and drink. The chain of rooms finishes as a bedroom, with a mattress, adorned with animal skin quilts, pressed into the back corner; woven baskets hold cloths and other articles. There is a ramp coming down out of the living space, to the main floor. Unseen, a ramp leads from offstage right, into the bedroom - this will be the from offstage entrance point for the household settings.

Backstage left is also slightly elevated, though not as high as the house, and takes up a little more space in width. A camp is shown on this tier, complete with a campfire and a backdrop - the backdrop is a mural of sandy cliff faces and distant fields; on the horizon is a depiction of biblical Jerusalem. A few rocks and bushes serve as a sparse foreground. Again, a ramp descends from the center of the tier, onto the main floor of the stage. Also unseen, a ramp leads from offstage left to the campsite - this is the from offstage entrance point for the camp settings.

The entire width of front stage is an open field, distinguished by sparse trees in center stage and on either far side; there is a small watering hole, resembled by a few rocks along the edge of a reflective tarp, on the edge of stage; this tarp is only ten feet long and two or three feet wide, providing our actors with plenty of acting room. Sheep and goats are throughout.

I love this idea! There's not enough Christian stories out there. I'll definitely try to read and review the script. Good luck! God Bless!

I was thinking the same thing! I'm going to finish this one and then try to find another story. I'm thinking about Cain and Abel as my next project...what do you think?