|
March 2004 Table of Contents
Producing Results
Is The Easter Idea Bank Dry?
By Keith McClung
Minister of Music & Fine Arts
19th Street Church of God
Parkersburg, WV
As I write this article I am watching the snow fall heavily outside my office window. In fact, schools were closed AGAIN in our area. I guess that comes with living in ski-country West Virginia. With the heavy snowfalls comes evenings of staying home rather than venturing out into the frozen tundra. It is at home where my remote control has become my best friend. Our local television station has been running a series of promotional commercials asking for blood donations to fill up the local blood bank. The winter season has drained the blood supply.
What season in your life has drained your creative juices to make them seem as a barren desert?
I crawled through the dessert last year knowing that Easter was approaching. Topping the prior year's production in the most creative way possible was an imaginary stream in my desert. Ever been there?
I want to share with you some creative ideas that will hopefully lead you out of the desert of your creative juices (or what's dried up of them) and onto new, and fresh, ideas. I'm sharing with you some ideas that will be presented in just a few weeks during our 13th Annual Easter Presentation. (Please don't tell any of the 4,000 people coming...it will ruin the surprise!)
Create An Island Stage
While attending a recent concert, I enjoyed the "in the round" feel as the stage sat in the center of venue and people watched the concert from every angle. I decided to do this very same concept with our Easter drama. Yes, we are going right in the middle of the auditorium and replacing several rows of seats with a stage. Instead of having sets built for every single scene, this "island" will be a great place for narrator transitions, scenes with minimal hand-carried props, etc.
This year we will feature the Carpenter's Shop, a miracle, and several other scenes at our new island stage. (Keep in mind that some will have to turn around to view these scenes...so this may not work for every church.)
Audience-Participatory
One thing that we have strived to accomplish is to pull the audience into our drama presentation. We want them to feel like they are right in the middle of the action. This year we have decided to feed them during the presentation-literally, and spiritually! Our new "island stage" will be a perfect place for Jesus to be placed to "feed the multitudes" with the fishes and loaves. Are we actually going to hand out bread and fish? Well, we'll keep it at small chunks of bread. So, yes, the audience will become part of the perceived 5,000 in attendance. Your audience will remember being part of the drama presentation; it's a way to pull them in!
The Marketplace
I've written about our marketplace in issues past, but I did want to touch on it one more time since it is such a memorable part of the attendees' experience. As guests enter into our facility they wind through many marketplace carts stacked with fruits, vegetables, animal cages, etc. I actually had one volunteer count how many pieces of artificial fruits and vegetables are used in this set up; I think she quit after she reached over 10,000! We add costumed cast members to the marketplace weaving baskets, bartering, selling doves, making pottery and greeting the guests as they enter. We even add the outdoor speakers playing Jewish praise music.
I hope these 3 ideas get your creative juices flowing again if you are beginning a late start on your drama presentation. In closing, I want to share a few year-long things that help me throughout the year to walk into the Easter planning season with a fresh heart and mind.
- Make your planning a year-long process; think of songs that will work with your drama. We are actually using "Here I Am To Worship" as a song showing different characters, who Jesus touched, visiting the tomb after the burial.
- Don't re-create the wheel. Take the time to surf the internet and to purchase videos of other productions. Seek permission to use their ideas to enhance your production.
- Have a year-long tickler file. Sometimes I come up with an idea but I don't know how, or when, it will be used. This year I had a dozen ideas in the file. Did I use all of them? No, but they renewed my creative juices.
My prayer is that the harvest comes to your House of the Lord and is fed by the creative arts this Easter season! As always, I love to hear your ideas or to share some time to speak with you.
Keith McClung
mcclung@charter.net
Back to Top
|
