Last time we talked about acting things out to help people to understand Bible teaching. This time here are some guidelines to remember when acting it out.
- Bible teaching is serious. For some reason, when doing Bible stories, some people want to be funny. They think the story needs something extra. So, they do something intentionally funny. (Now sometimes unintentional funny happens. That is a different matter.) One time we had a Bible drama of Adam and Eve. The deaf man playing Adam decided to add something. As Adam he wore a pair of “Groucho” glasses. (For the younger folks, Groucho glasses have a big nose and moustache attached to them.) He thought he would be funny and it was. Naturally, if
we are teaching serious Bible stories, we must be serious. - Face forward when signing. People often make a mistake of facing away from the audience and signing to one of the other people on stage. However, the audience cannot see you. I know it feels and looks odd, but the audience needs to see what you are signing. Face toward the audience when signing and acting.
- People cannot see things on the floor. Sometimes stories involve people lying on the floor. For example, the story of the good Samaritan has the victim hurt and on the ground. However, people in the back cannot see the person on the ground. We do one of two things. Either have the person stand up or get a table and have him lie on the table. That way everyone can see him.
- Do not add or change the story or its contents. I have seen people act out a Bible story and change either the story or parts of it. We had a group do the three Hebrew children in the furnace. When they acted out the idol-worshiping part, they copied a local idol exactly. I think that is all they knew to do. Also, one group added a nurse at the inn where the Good Samaritan took his victim. Be careful that people do not add to or change the Bible story.
