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61105 Community of Five
by John CosperGENRE: Comedy
TIME: 8 minutes
CAST BREAKDOWN: 5F
THEME: Women's Topics; Friendship; Encouragement
CHURCH YEAR SEASON: Any
SUGGESTED USE: Women's Events
SYNOPSIS: Five very different women bring their doubts, fears, and worries to a small group meeting and discover how they can benefit each other.
CHARACTERS:
RACHEL—A busy, frazzled, stay-at-home mom
JANET—A lonely career woman
DEB—A divorced working mom
ANNA—A lonely young woman dealing with issues from the past
TAYLOR—A sweet, innocent, but dumb blonde
PROPS: Lemonade pitcher, glasses, furniture, Bibles
COSTUMES: Modern dress
SOUND: General
LIGHTING: General; possible spotlight use
SETTING: A nice living room
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: Proverbs 27:17
DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
There is comic potential for the other characters remaining in the scene each time a character steps out. During rehearsal, have actors who are not "stepping out" freeze in humorous positions that might emphasize what the other character is saying, meaning the moment should work to enhance the whole piece rather than being a funny moment that might prove distracting.
The setting is RACHEL'S living room, a very nice "Leave It to Beaver" style home. There is a knock at the door. JANET walks in from the kitchen and answers the door. JANET enters.
RACHEL: Well, hello there. I'm Rachel.
JANET: I'm Janet.
RACHEL: Janet! Oh, it's good to finally meet you.
JANET: Same here.
RACHEL: Please, come on in.
JANET: Thank you. My, what a lovely home.
RACHEL: Oh…that's so nice of you to say.
JANET: It really is lovely.
RACHEL freezes. JANET steps out of the scene to reveal her thoughts. This is a device that will be used throughout the sketch, as each character has short asides while others freeze and the character reveals her inner thoughts.
JANET: Look at this place. It's like something out of Leave It to Beaver or Donna Reed! This woman is Donna Reed. All the pictures of family. Look, there's even one of the family dog. I don't deserve to set foot in a place like this!
RACHEL: (Steps out) Look at her, checking this place out. No fooling a sophisticated woman like that. She knows this place was wrecked until about three PM today. She can smell it. The toys, the dog, the pizza stains in front of the couch.
They cheerily step back into the moment.
RACHEL: Something to drink? Iced tea? Coke? Fresh-squeezed lemonade?
JANET: Oh—lemonade sounds lovely.
RACHEL exits. JANET steps out.
JANET: Fresh-squeezed lemonade? Did you hear that? She's rubbing it in my face! She's Miss Happy Homemaker while I'm Miss Hate My Job, Wish I Could Find a Man Before I'm Thirty So I Can Have Kids. Maybe I could conveniently get a cell phone call to make my escape.
JANET steps back. RACHEL brings in lemonade and a tray of drinks. She pours some for JANET.
RACHEL: Here you go.
JANET: Thank you. (Takes a sip) Wow, this is good.
RACHEL steps out.
RACHEL: You know what that's code for. "Oh, how cute, lemonade. Too bad you can't offer me a real drink, like a white wine." Or whatever those career women drink.
Knock at the door. RACHEL steps back in the scene and answers the door.
DEB: Hi. Are you Rachel?
RACHEL: I sure am.
DEB: I'm Deb.
RACHEL: Deb! It's nice to meet you. Won't you come on in?
DEB: Thank you.
DEB steps inside the house. She steps forward while the others freeze.
DEB: Just say it, Deb. "Oops, wrong house." Then run like mad. It's pretty obvious this is one happily married lady. And me? Divorced. Yes he was a pig. Yes he cheated on me multiple times. But will she think it matters? I failed my wedding vows. I don't deserve to be here.
RACHEL: (Steps out) Okay, maybe I've fooled Janet, but Deb certainly will smell the uncleanness in this house. She has kids. She knows the score. Although from the vacancy on her ring finger I see she also has an advantage: no husband to clean up after.
They step back in the moment.
RACHEL: Lemonade?
DEB: Sure.
They walk to the couch.
RACHEL: Deb, this is Janet. Janet, Deb.
JANET: (Shakes Deb's hand) Nice to meet you.
DEB steps out.
DEB: Her next move will be to wash the hands that have touched the divorced chick.
JANET: (Steps out) Call me paranoid, but even this one's judging me. She's divorced, but her eyes say it all. At least she had the guts to try marriage.
They step back in the moment and sit on the couch. RACHEL gives DEB some lemonade.
JANET: So, do you make fresh-squeezed lemonade?
DEB: Oh no. Thankfully my kids enjoy good old-fashioned Kool-Aid. I don't have the time to squeeze lemons and make this delicious drink.
DEB steps out. The others freeze.
DEB: Why did I say that? Now they really think I'm a terrible mother, only giving my girls Kool-Aid.
RACHEL: (Steps out) You heard her. She doesn't have time to squeeze lemons. Just come out and say it: "Rachel doesn't have a life!"
JANET: (Steps out) Kool-Aid…last time I had that it was in a punch bowl at a frat house with a fifth of vodka. But I'm not going to tell THEM that story.
Knock on the door. They all step back in the moment. ANNA enters.
RACHEL: Hi. Welcome.
ANNA: Hi, I'm Anna.
RACHEL: Come on in, Anna. This is Janet and Deb.
JANET: Hi.
DEB: Hi.
ANNA steps out.
ANNA: Wow, look at them all. I must seem like a baby to them. They're all probably way more mature than I am and happily married. Probably never had to visit a counselor in their lives.
JANET: (Steps out) Look at this. Cute, young.
DEB steps out with JANET.
JANET/DEB: Soon as this is over, I'm calling my analyst!
They all step back in the moment.
DEB: Join us, Anna. We're just having some lemonade.
ANNA: That sounds lovely.
RACHEL: So I understand you just graduated from college?
ANNA: Yes, I just got hired at a local PR firm.
JANET: Public relations. How exciting. Any romantic involvements?
ANNA: Me? Oh no. At least, not at the moment.
RACHEL: Well, you're young yet. Enjoy it.
JANET steps out.
JANET: Yes, enjoy it, Anna. Enjoy your youth, 'cause soon as you hit 25, it's non-stop pressure to get married. Tell people you're still single, and they think something's wrong with you.
DEB: (Steps out) Ah, to be young again. To have a clean slate. To know what I knew then, that Jack was a lying, cheating fool.
RACHEL: (Steps out) Young and free…no kids, no dogs, no husband. To be back out there, roaming the countryside, following the Grateful Dead… (Reacting to the laughter in the audience) Yeah, like I'm the only one who didn't tail Jerry and the boys for a summer and live out of a VW van before returning to the faith of my childhood.
ANNA: (Steps out) Why do they look at me that way? Anyway, why that question, "Any romantic involvement?" No, and there won't be for some time. It's not exactly an easy thing to trust a man and risk loving someone when you've suffered the abuse I did as a girl. But I can't share that here. How many of them would know the self-doubt that comes with such a wound?
They step back in the moment.
RACHEL: Lemonade?
ANNA: Yum, thanks!
The door opens. TAYLOR enters.
TAYLOR: Is this the women's small group?
The others look at TAYLOR. ANNA steps out.
ANNA: What in the world is that? It must be the anti-Anna!
RACHEL: (Steps out) Something in this girl reminds me of the princess and the pea. If there's any doggy mess I forgot to scrape up, she'll probably sit in it. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
DEB: (Steps out) So young, so cute, so happily married.
JANET: (Steps out) If only that had been strychnine in the Kool-Aid instead of vodka.
TAYLOR: (Steps out. Sweet, innocent, ditzy) Wow, what a pretty, pretty house. Like the Barbie Dream House I had as a kid. I wonder if they have a pink Trans-Am too!
They step back in the moment.
RACHEL: You must be Taylor.
TAYLOR: Yes, I am Taylor. And you must be… (Going blank) Who are you?
RACHEL: I'm Rachel. This is Deb, Janet and Anna.
TAYLOR: Hi you all. It's so nice to be here. I've been looking forward to this all week.
JANET steps out.
JANET: What do you know? Barbie is just as sweet and obnoxious as you always thought.
JANET steps back.
JANET: That's a nice rock you have there.
TAYLOR: Oh, this isn't a rock. It's called a ring.
DEB steps out.
DEB: Will you look at that thing? Must be three carats at least!!
TAYLOR: (Steps out proudly) Five carats of pure cubic zirconium. Jack wanted to get me a diamond, but why settle for a little bitty thing when for the same price I can have a huge, shiny sparkly?
They step back in the moment.
ANNA: So you're engaged?
TAYLOR: Yup. We're getting married in three months. You're all invited, of course.
JANET steps out.
JANET: I think I'm busy that day. Root canal, work or maybe a kidney removal.
JANET steps back.
DEB: Who's the lucky guy?
TAYLOR: My fiancée.
DEB: Does he have a name?
TAYLOR: Of course he does. How silly would that be if he didn't?
RACHEL: So what is his name?
TAYLOR: Jack Baylor. And in three months I'll be Taylor Baylor. Which is funny because the other cheerleaders called me that in high school.
RACHEL steps out.
RACHEL: Taylor Baylor. How cute. Wonder what her husband does? Probably a stock broker. Or one of those software geniuses.
TAYLOR: (Steps out, proudly) Jack drives a garbage truck!
They step back in the moment.
ANNA: Okay, so shall we get this party started? (Steps out) Not that I really plan to come back, but we might as well do what we came here for so I can jet.
RACHEL: Right, umm…Well, I guess since I'm the host, I'll get things started. The whole purpose of our meeting is to give us a chance to…to talk about life. What's going on, where we're struggling and how we can support each other.
JANET steps out.
JANET: Sure, that's exactly what I want. To tell all these ladies how miserable I am. All so they can smile, nod and think to themselves how glad they are they chose a family instead of a career.
DEB: (Steps out) It's a nice thought, but how can any of you possibly understand the struggles of being a single mom, working and raising kids at the same time?
ANNA: (Steps out) You're all so far beyond me. I doubt if any of you have suffered the horrors that I have. And the last thing I need is more pity.
TAYLOR: (Steps out) Hey…my socks don't match. Isn't that funny?
They all step back.
RACHEL: So, I guess we'll start by opening it up for prayer requests. What's going on that we can lift to the Lord? (Long pause) Anyone? (Another long pause) Anyone care to share first?
RACHEL steps out.
RACHEL: Maybe this was a bad idea. I mean how different could five women be? Can a married mom, a single mom, a career woman, a college grad and a bride-to-be really come together and-
TAYLOR: (Interrupting) I have a request. It's for my mom. She's not doing very well. She's on the waiting list for an organ transplant and they say she might not make it until the wedding.
RACHEL walks back to her seat.
RACHEL: That must be tough.
TAYLOR: (Shakes her head) The tough part is that she isn't a Christian. And I've been praying for so long. I want her to get saved before she…I guess it's kind of hard to relate how I feel.
DEB: No. I've been praying for my father for the last several years. He's an alcoholic, and not a believer. Which is probably why I…I married the man that I did. That's the man I grew up with. And even though he was harsh towards me, and my family…
ANNA: You still love him.
DEB: Yes.
ANNA: It's weird, isn't it? That someone so close can wound you deeply. But you still love them. I've been dealing with the same thing in my life. My dad really messed things up for me, to the point that I wonder if I can ever trust anyone again. I wonder all the time if I'll ever be able to love, or if I'll be all alone the rest of my days.
JANET: Okay, now we're talking about something I can relate to. I look at this place and the smiles in the pictures. And that gleam in Taylor's eye as she eyes that rock.
TAYLOR: It's a ring.
JANET: And I wonder if I'm going to be alone the rest of my life. But I guess there are worse places to be than living single.
DEB: Very true.
RACHEL: And as great as marriage is, there are days I wish I was still in that VW van.
ANNA: What VW van?
RACHEL: I'll tell you that story later. Meanwhile, let's lift our hearts up to God.
TAYLOR: That sounds like a great idea.
They all join hands, except ANNA, who steps out.
ANNA: So this is what it means to say the Lord works in mysterious ways. I almost didn't come today. I'm so glad I did.
ANNA joins in the held hands.
Lights out.
Performance and photocopying rights:
Your purchase of this script grants your church unlimited use of these sketches within your programs and worship services. You may photocopy the script for each cast member in your church. Scripts and performance rights are not transferable between churches and cannot be resold. You may not use the sketches for any commercial or fundraising purpose, and usage rights do not extend to video, radio, television or film.Copyright © 2003 by John Cosper