What can I say about the typical DramatisDei customer? My un-schooled amalysis is that he/she is a church member (often in leadership), living in the UK or on the west coast of the USA or around the Great Lakes of USA/Canada or on the Australian East Coast or New Zealand. They also use the internet at least sometimes… OK, I am not very good at customer analysis!

It is perhaps unsurprising that there are large areas of the world that are currently untouched – the drama scripts are, after all, in English. However, if you can help spread the word to some of the untouched English speaking areas we would very much appreciate it! Don’t forget that you can use the sharing buttons at the top of any page.

What is encouraging is that feedback is beginning to arrive from people who have actually performed the scripts – read it at Drama feedback. We would love to hear more of that, please keep communicating!

You can see all our scripts at the Drama scripts page. Given the time of year may I particularly point out Heavenly Resolutions, about New Year resolutions, St. Valentine’s Day Mascara about Valentine’s Day and the meanining of love, and God in Your Cupboard, a drama script for Lent.

Happy Christmas everyone, have a blessed and lovely time.

This short video was created for The Nativity Factor, a site inviting people to create short and snappy videos about the nativity.

(My  spell-checker doesn’t like the word satnav, it wants me to change it to sauna, Santa or Satan. I’m trying to figure if it is telling me something deep and meaningful…)

If you want to stage some fairly snappy Christmas stories as part of your church worship, we have three Christmas drama scripts available for download:

Sheepville – in which the three shepherds are too busy to listen to the angel’s news. Even the angel is nearly distracted by the Sheepville game on the GameThing!

The Hotel Inspector – in which a hotel inspector questions the whole business model of a certain inn in Bethlehem based on what he found there on one starry night…

The Other Christmas Story – well, which is THE christmas story? There are so many to choose from!

The Nativity factor is offering up to £5000 for the most creative video re-tellings of the nativity. In their words, just grab a camera and upload your video! You just need to keep it snappy – no more than three minutes (and I suspect less would be better – oh isn’t that so often the case!)

Talking of which…

We have three fairly-snappy drama scripts of our own for you to us in your church, school or – well wherever!

Sheepville

The Hotel Inspector

The Other Christmas Story

We hope you will enjoy them!

Well, 21 October is here. Harold Camping’s most recent statement pronouncement suggested that we still have a date with God and today is the appointed time – though appointed by whom I’m not really sure. Unlike the timing of the date of Easter, which is also a mystery to most people, the dates surrounding the end of the world have not been laid down in officially sanctioned mathematical tables for hundreds of years, which may be because Jesus said that no-one knows the day or the time (Mark 13:32). So we are left with people like Mr. Camping to enlighten us. Or not.   

The problem is that it is just too tempting. The Bible is a book full of rich stories guiding us towards an understanding of what God is like and what we should be like. Unfortunately  Bible-calculation, trying to use numbers in the bible to add up to some ultimate answer, is just more satisfying for so many and has being going on for nearly two thousand years. The first known date for the end of the world as we know it was Hilary of Poitiers prediction that it would all be over in 365 A.D. It’s a bit like The Hitchhikers’s Guide to the Galaxy, where Deep thought was built to give the meaning of life, the universe and everything, but instead replied with 42. Meaningless but solid.        

Shortly after the lack of rapture in May Camping had a stroke. His tone is now slightly milder. “the end is going to come very, very quietly probably within the next month . . . by October 21. Probably there will be no pain suffered by anyone because of their rebellion against God . . . We can become more and more sure that they’ll quietly die and that will be the end of their story”. Nice.

Reading comments on Facebook there appears to be a fair amount of anger surrounding this, whether directed at Camping, his followers or just all believers for being – well, believers! The Wikipedia page has had non-too subtle words inserted (moron, retard) which rather reduce its usefulness. I’m not angry. I don’t suppose for a moment that any of these people intend to deceive – I could be wrong but Camping doesn’t look like a con-man to me. I’ve met a lot of people who are far too sure about their belief for their own (or other people’s) good, and on the whole the last thing they wanted was to hurt anybody – nor were they particularly stupid. So I suspect that Camping isn’t evil and his followers aren’t brainless the brainless idiots that internet discussion would make them out to be (the discussions put it much more impolitely). Mostly it’s the too-certain leading the over-intense, with a lack of perspective all round. 

So I’m not angry, not even (well, not much) at the blatant mis-representation of this whole thing in the media and online which suggests that somehow this behaviour is representative of all people of all faiths, and particularly that all Christians are secretly scanning the skies nightly*. No, I just hope that if or when any of the mis-believers become disillusioned that there will be other people around them who will help them down gently.   

And what can you expect today? Will you be raptured? I refer you to the same humorous flowchart as last time so that you can see where you stand when the trumpet blows. It is pleasing to see that, just like when I play Connect 4 with Mrs. DramatisDei, there is no way that I can win. Between them they’ve got me beaten.

 p.s. I’ve put this post in the Big Issues category, not because it is a big issue for most people (clearly it isn’t) but because for those involved it is big enough for them to give away everything. That is quite big.

* Actually I do scan the skies fairly nightly, but that is mostly because I am hoping to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station or because I am testing the Planets app on my iPhone.

So perhaps it is no surprise that the shiny visitor who arrives one evening is a little disturbed that they can’t find the time to listen to his important announcement. For their part, he is an annoying distraction. Can this end well? Oh, and what would you give the king who has everything?   

This Christmas drama script would go down well in any church, school or other gathering at Christmas. It humorously raises the questions, what is important? What is real? It has a cast of four and is about 6 minutes long.

To see a sample of the high-quality PDF click here: SheepvilleSAMPLE. You can download the full script (which does not have the annoying watermark!) using the cart buttons.

I say “forced” to think about Christmas because although our household loves Christmas dearly, it’s not much more than a week since we had a last gasp of summer here and it just seems wrong to be reminded of Christmas. I am dreading the morning, which I am sure cannot be far off, when I get off my morning train and find that the shopping mall is playing Christmas songs too loudly. I suspect they are just waiting for Halloween to be over. Christmas has already arrived on supermarket shelves – they have been selling Christmas-targeted goods for some time.

Of course, If you are a Christian like me then you can’t complain because we are as guilty as anyone. Churches start organising early, in our church we planned our Christmas shoebox collection long ago. The worship group have been busy selecting a new song for Christmas and work is beginning on the nativity. Like shops, schools and pubs, it’s our busiest time of year. This brings many blessings but can make a person fed up of Christmas by the beginning of December!

So it is with both reluctance and excitement that DramatisDei gears up to tackle Christmas. Roll on Sheepville!

I am a worshipping Christian who is trying to understand his relationship with God and the world and who would very much like to carry a little bit of heaven into each day, wherever that day may take me. This site was created as a result of much encouragement by some very lovely people who seem to have more faith in me than I do in myself.

DramatisDei wants to encourage lively discussion of all sorts of topics and to see people shake off lazy ways of thinking. Everything we think we believe should be tested by being held up to the light of God’s love. That last phrase is the important one – God’s love.

DramatisDei has an expanding list of lovingly crafted downloadable original short dramas (skits, sketches) for use in church services or outreach, or just to be read for enjoyment.

DramatisDei has a “How To Do Drama” section intended to be usable by the average budding drama group wondering just what they have got themselves into.

The name DramatisDei just sort of popped into my head unbidden one day as an ideal name for a site with downloadable scripts about life with God. I have that sort of head. Dramatis personae is a Latin phrase meaning the cast of characters in a play. Dei is Latin for God – you will find it in many Latin mottos and inscriptions. If a play had God or His works in it, I reasoned that would make him Dramatis Dei (I didn’t take Latin at school). What I didn’t know is that the phrase “dramatis dei personae” is already used in theology to describe the three persons of God in the trinity so it wasn’t quite as original as I thought. 

That’s what DramatisDei is – a search for the character of God. You can join in by using the comment sections that you will find at the bottom of most pages.  Welcome!

Who is DramatisDei?

This site has been created and is written by me, Rod Belt. I run it and am responsible for the whole thing, good or bad. I have had lots of lovely encouragement from friends, family and other random people but this site is not their fault! You can read a bit more at About DramatisDei.

How can I tell others about the articles/scripts I like?

Between the title and the text of each post/article are a set of buttons which will allow you to share your enjoyment by adding links onto your Facebook wall or onto Twitter, or by emailing people. If you use another social network you can probably find a link to it by clicking the generic Share This button (the green one).  

How can I stay informed of what is new on DramatisDei?

If you use Facebook you can follow us there by using the Follow on Facebook button towards the top right of each page. You will see our Facebook page where you can click “like” to keep informed. Alternatively, if you use an RSS feed reader such as Yahoo, iGoogle or Netvibes there is also a Follow with RSS button which will allow you to see our RSS Feed and add it to your usual news page.                                                  

How can I comment if I have an opinion?

Most articles have a comment box at the bottom of the page. Please use it! We all want to hear from you! If you want to comment on a drama script there is a separate Drama feedback comment page accessible under the “About” tab.       

Why hasn’t my comment appeared on the page?

Your comment is probably in the moderation queue waiting for us to check its content. Like most sites we have an acceptable use policy which governs what we will allow to appear, and we monitor comments to check that they comply. In most cases your comment should appear on the page before long. We like open debate but we do, however, reserve the right to reject comments that are offensive/spam/link to dodgy web sites/not plainly understandable/resort to name-calling/any other reason we think makes them unsuitable.

Why do the script samples have big writing across them?

The preview samples are marked as such by having a dark watermark across the middle and by not being complete – the end is missing. Purchased copies of scripts are complete and have no such annoying text.

Are downloads really instant?

When you have successfully completed the payment processing screens you will be immediately sent a link to a download screen which provides instant download. There should not be any noticeable delay, though we all know the internet has traffic jams now and then. If you experience problems email sales@dramatisdei.com and we will give you any necessary help.

Can I pay with a credit card?

Of course! You can pay with any usual credit card or via a PayPal account. In either case your payments will be handled by PayPal but if you are paying by card PayPal normally allow you a number of transactions before asking you to sign up.

Can I change words in your scripts?

The scripts are copyright works and you have no right to re-write them. However, having said that, we understand that circumstances (cast available, venue, props, time of year, local usage of English) may make the script as it stands unhelpful for performance without small informal amendments – changing “him” to her”, “Mum” to “Mom”,  “we” to “I”, “chips” to “fries”. Any such changes must not change the meaning or the substance of the script, if they are written onto the script it should be clear that they are local amendments to the original words, and (of course) you may not circulate the changed script to others. If in doubt, please ask – email sales@dramatisdei.com.

I purchased a script; can I make copies to give to friends?

No. Sorry. Each script comes with clear conditions about what you can and can’t do with it – read The DramatisDei Deal. The conditions are designed to meet the reasonable needs and desires of a purchaser. You can make a copy of the script for everyone involved in a performance (actors, director etc.) but if your interested friend isn’t in that group, use the ShareThis buttons on the relevant website page to send him/her a link so that they can buy their own! 

Where is your statement of faith?

When Christ was asked for the greatest commandment he simply told us to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves. That’s a fantastic statement of faith! He also told us a few other wonderful and hard things – to love our enemies, not to judge others and to forgive people a ridiculous amount of times. We are all working on those, right?

Statements of faith that interpret those things into specifics of everyday life or way of worship look like attempts to limit God. No two lives are the same and part of our journey with Christ is to learn how his love shapes our life. Have you met two Christians who saw it all the same way, or whose views haven’t changed over time? Love can’t be carved out of stone – maybe that’s why Jesus preferred to write in the dust.      

Why did you write something I found offensive?

Sorry! It is not the aim of this website to be offensive to anyone, nor to be personal.

A lot of what is written is fairly light-hearted, but there is also serious comment on issues that seem important. Mostly this will be influenced by a belief that above all God wants us to be expressions of His love.

Where serious issues are raised the intention is usually to examine, challenge (and sometimes ridicule) ideas rather than the individuals who hold them (though if an individual or group has gone public with an idea or viewpoint or is in the news or public discussion because of it then it would be silliness to avoid using their name).

There are many strands of viewpoint within Christianity on almost every subject and you are bound to disagree with what you read here at least some of the time! Hopefully in those cases we can agree to differ amicably.   

Are you affiliated to a church?

DramatisDei is not sponsored, supported, promoted or endorsed by any church body or organisation. As far as we know…

Why do I sometimes find your spelling or grammar odd?

Rod says: There are several possible reasons. I’m English and if you are not then that could explain it. Also when it comes to language I have a style of my own. I tend to use lots of commas, and ellipses… And I start sentences with words like and, also and but, which I’m sure my teachers must have told me not to do. Forgive me for that, I just write the way I think.

The rules surrounding the use of drama scripts appear on the back page of every purchased script. You can read more in “The DramatisDei Deal”.

Everything on the site is © DramatisDei unless otherwise stated. That means don’t copy. We are happy for you to use quotes but would like them to be accompanied by a link back to this site please. If we have inadvertently used anything of yours and you want it removing or want an attribution adding please let us know – we didn’t mean to do it and are very sorry!

Comments are welcomed from readers (please!) and most pages have a comment section. We welcome lively debate. Comments are moderated to ensure the pages remain welcoming to all and there are a few loose rules or guidelines to stick to if you want your words to make it through. They are probably obvious and mostly they are about being clear and being friendly:

• Don’t be abusive, offensive or call names;
• Don’t wander off the point;
• Don’t post comments that are largely lists of Bible or other references;
• Don’t use uppercase, abbreviated or other difficult-to-read language;
• Don’t spam us or post comments that are just links to other sites;
• Do read the original post before commenting;
• Do write clearly using understandable language;
• Do respond with rational argument or your own honest thoughts or feelings;
• Do remember that this site has a general all-age readership;
• Do display Christ’s love.

We will not exclude comments just because we disagree with the viewpoint, but any that infringe these rules will be removed. Our decision is final.

Like we said, use a little thought and you won’t need the rules. Just play nice. Please.