Learning and Living the Gospel #6 / Developing Talents #3

For this idea we actually combined two activities – Learning and Living the Gospel #6 and Developing Talents #3. We also spent about four or five activity days on this activity and finished up with presenting our production at an activity where we invited families to attend.

Introduction

What is faith?  (read Ether 12:6)
Who do we have faith in?
Why can we have faith in Christ?
What are some stories from the Book of Mormon that you remember that are about having faith in Jesus Christ?

Brainstorming

List stories that the girls can think of.  Talk about which one(s) they would like to use as the basis for a play.
–Depending on the number of “parts” for a given story, divide the girls into groups.
–Another idea is to take the scripture story and re-write it with a modern setting.
Working with the girls, sketch out the play – list the parts, costumes and setting and props.
Have the girls write out the dialogue and stage directions.
If possible, send each girl home with a copy of her part. Otherwise, hand them out before the next activity

Rehearsing the Play

Spend a couple of activities rehearsing the play. Encourage the girls to memorize their parts and practice moving around the “stage” area where you will actually perform the play. (We just presented it in the Primary room – nothing fancy).

Scenery, Props, Costumes

If required, spend an activity preparing scenery for the play.  This can be as simple as planning to hang some sheets up, or making some simple cardboard cut-outs.
(For example:  We did a modern re-telling of Nephi building the boat.  We used chairs from the Primary room, which we lined up as our “waves”.  We draped them with a blue sheet.  We arranged some larger chairs behind them as a “boat” and used cardboard to make a “front” for the chairs that looked like a boat).

Decide what props or costumes you might need or want.  Make assignments for the girls to bring the various items, depending on what is available.

Performance

Plan an activity to perform your play.  Be sure to invite parents and family members.  Don’t forget the camera or video recorder!

The parents loved seeing their girls perform and we had a good time preparing.  None of us leaders really had any experience with drama, so we kept it very simple.

Tags: Book of Mormon, faith, Jesus Christ, playacting