Ten Plays for the Church

by Michael Shackleton · November 21, 2007

TEN PLAYS FOR CHURCH, by Kevin Dodds. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana. 2007. 108pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

Kevin Dodds has a twofold love: the theatre and the Christian ministry. As a lay reader in the Church of England, he was in a group discussing what alternative there was to a sermon in order to get across the truths and practicalities of being a Christian. Because of his acting experience, he agreed under pressure to write a short play with a moral.

This was received so well, he eventually wrote ten plays and had them published complete with detailed instructions on how to present them for those who had no experience of mounting a stage production.

The plays have names such as The Devil’s Scheme, The Evil-Doer, Lights, Camera, Action and The News. Each play ends on a note that leaves it open to question or to think of alternatives, and it is this tactic the author uses to prod the audience or reader to think deeply about Christian morality. After each play concludes, the author provides a number of suggestions of topics the pastor, teacher or someone else can elaborate on in order to stimulate a lively debate among those present.

The plays are a delight, and the pedagogical method of staging a kind of morality story in which the audience can participate and learn from, is efficiently presented. The plays would be suitable for parishes, youth clubs, schools and other groups, and might stimulate other budding playwrights to weigh in with something similar.

The book is available from authorhouse.com.