  |
 |
  |
61119
THE
WOMAN CAUGHT IN COMMITTEE
by Rene Gutteridge
GENRE: Comedy
TIME: 9 minutes
CAST BREAKDOWN: 4M, 2W
THEME: Judging Others
SUGGESTED USE: Any
CHARACTERS: Bubba, Samuel, Jerry, Richard, Marla, Cindy
SYNOPSIS: Bubba encounters a church meeting in which, under the disguise of religion, the members are condemning a woman, much like the Pharisees did with the woman caught in adultery
PROPS: 6 chairs, notepads, 25 pencils
COSTUMES: Modern clothing
SOUND: Six cordless mics
LIGHTING: General stage
SETTING: Stage or church meeting room
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: John 8:1-2
DIRECTOR'S TIP: Consider having the actors on the committee (with the exception of Bubba) surround Cindy as if they were the people surrounding the woman caught in adultery in the New Testament. Marla can raise her pencils, and the other actors can lift other props at an opportune time to bring home the metaphor and help the congregation see the connection between the Bible verse and real life.
CINDY sits in a chair that is a little off-set from the rest of the chairs. On either side of her are chairs. To her left, SAMUEL and JERRY occupy the chairs. To her right are RICHARD and MARLA, plus one empty chair. As lights come up, it seems as if they've just begun their meeting.SAMUEL: Greetings, all. We know what an important meeting this is, so it is my opinion that we shall begin the meeting—
MARLA: (Raising her hand) Sam, I think it's better stated as a counseling session, don't you?
SAMUEL: Why yes. A counseling session. We should begin with prayer. Richard, will you do the honors?
RICHARD: I'd be honored. (Bowing solemnly) Oh great God of all who are perfect and pure, we bring before you one who isn't. Cindy. Lord, we ask her heart be open to all that we have to say to her, and that she would receive it in humility. Amen.
ALL: Amen.
JERRY: (In a kind voice) Now Cynthia——
CINDY: It's just Cindy.
JERRY: Not anymore. You, from this moment on, shall be called "Cynthia."
CINDY: Why?
JERRY: Why? (Still in sweet voice) You've humiliated yourself with this sin and therefore why would you want to be known as your previous, sinful self?
RICHARD: The committee feels, Cynthia, that you need to take some steps to help yourself.
JERRY: And we're here to help you do that.
SAMUEL: Sinning and not paying the penalty for that sin is yet another sin.CINDY: But that's not—
MARLA: (Tapping her pencil against her pad) You just keep pilin' 'em on, don't ya? I mean, lady, when are you going to figure this out? The more sin, the more time you do.
CINDY: Time I do? You sound like you're putting me in prison.
RICHARD: I'm afraid you've put yourself in a prison, Cynthia. A prison of sin.
CINDY: Look, I know I messed up. I know that. But—
MARLA: Is that all you can say for yourself? But? That's not good enough!
Suddenly BUBBA walks in.
BUBBA: Hey guys, what's going on?
CINDY: (Excited) Bubba!
RICHARD: Who invited him?
Everyone mumbles and denies it.
BUBBA: Hi Cindy. So what's happening?
SAMUEL: You wouldn't be interested.
JERRY: Bubba, it's just a meeting, okay? No big deal.
BUBBA: (Sitting down) A meeting about what?
They resign that he's not leaving.
RICHARD: It's a meeting about...
MARLA: Love. Our love for Cynthia.
BUBBA: Cindy, you mean?
JERRY: We're helping Cynthia understand redemption.
RICHARD: Because of our concern for her.
BUBBA: Oh, great! Well, I'd love to help, too, in any way I can.
RICHARD: Alright. Well, as we were saying to Cynthia, she has sinned and we'd like to help her deal with that "issue" in her life.
BUBBA: (Turning to CINDY) Cindy, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But you know through Jesus Christ you're forgiven if you just ask—
MARLA: Wait just a minute here. Before we start talking forgiveness, let's talk about how Cynthia can redeem her good name here at church.
JERRY: We have set up a 6 month long prayer vigil for you to join just to make you feel better about yourself before you ask for forgiveness from us.
BUBBA: Wait a minute—
RICHARD: And furthermore, we thought publishing your sin in the weekly newsletter might be an incentive for you to not ever do it again.
MARLA: That's one way to get people to read it.
BUBBA: (Standing) Hold on a second—
MARLA: And lastly, we've sacrificed money out of the budget to provide you with your very own bull whip—
BUBBA: Wait just one minute! (Everyone quiets down) What in the world do you think you're doing?
MARLA: (Sourly) We're helping Cynthia in the love of the Lord. Do you mind?
BUBBA: What "sin" could possible deem treating her like this?
RICHARD: Sinsss.
JERRY: Dave told Alice that Cindy gossiped.
MARLA: And that's not all. She gluttonous. Bob saw her at supersize her french fries at McDonald's. I mean, c'mon. How many fries does one person need really?
Suddenly MARLA loses her grip on something she's been holding on her lap and twenty-five pencils roll off her lap and onto the floor. MARLA lunges to the floor to scoop them all up.MARLA: (As she's picking up pencils) And there have been reports that Cindy is selfish and doesn't like to share.
RICHARD: Can I borrow a pencil?
MARLA: Get your own.
SAMUEL: So you can see, Bubba, that we've got quite a list going on here.
BUBBA: Sounds to me like what you've got going here is a modern day version, cleverly disguised under the guise of religion, of the woman caught in adultery.
JERRY: Who? From our church? I bet it's that Harriett Gibson.
BUBBA: No, Jerry. From the Bible. In case you're not familiar with the story, the Pharisees brought a woman in front of Jesus who had been caught in adultery. They wanted her stoned to death for her sin.
MARLA: Well good for them!
BUBBA: You know, Marla, you should better familiarize yourself with some of the teachings of Jesus.
MARLA: What do you mean?
BUBBA: Well the story continues, you see, and Jesus looks at the crowd and tells them that whoever there hasn't sinned may throw the first stone at her. (The group grows quiet.) Of course no one threw a stone. (Another pause) So I guess whoever here is sinless may (Glances at MARLA) throw the first...pencil.
SAMUEL, RICHARD, MARLA and JERRY sort of look at each other. SAMUEL leaves first. Then RICHARD, followed by JERRY. MARLA pauses, looks at her pencils, then leaves.
CINDY: You know, Bubba, what they said about me is true. I did sin.
BUBBA: Let me tell you another truth. You are forgiven through Jesus Christ.
Lights fade.
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 Rene Gutteridge