BACK REDSEA 5'1m*f RT: Moses, ten plagues, parting the Red Sea (RT == Readers' Theater: requires little or no memorization, little or no rehearsal. An indefinite number of reporters are salted throughout the audience.) MOSES -- (enters wearing tunic, headress, and sandals, crosses to podium) Good Morning, my name is Moses the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. This will be my last press conference with the Egyptian press before I lead my people across the Red Sea to the land of Midian. As I have said repeatedly in previous press conferences, all of the misery that the people of Egypt have suffered during the ten plagues could have been avoided if Pharaoh King of Egypt had merely let my people go when I first requested it. REPORTER -- Moses, are you aware that Pharaoh has mobilized his army and is on his way here to wipe out your people? MOSES -- I am aware of that. That's why I called this press conference. I wanted to put this attack into perspective for both Egyptians and Hebrews. REPORTER -- You don't seem to be very nervous for a man who is about to be killed by Pharaoh. MOSES -- That's my point in calling this press conference. There is not the remotest chance that my people will receive even the slightest injury at the hands of the Egyptian army. REPORTER -- How can you say that?! The Egyptian army is the most powerful and feared army in the whole world! MOSES -- I am aware of that. I am also aware of who the army opposes when they attack us. REPORTER -- You must be joking! REPORTER -- I have seen false pride before but this takes the prize. REPORTER -- Moses, are you aware that your people don't have a single sword or spear among them? Are you expecting the Hebrews to fend off an attack of swords and arrows with bare fists?! MOSES -- That's not what I'm saying at all. I would have thought that after ten plagues, the message to Pharaoh and the Egyptians would be clear by now. REPORTER -- What message have we missed? MOSES -- Over four hundred years ago, the God who created the universe out of nothing promised our ancestor Abraham that the Hebrews were his special people. He promised that anyone who helped the Hebrews would be blessed by God and anyone who harmed the Hebrews would be punished by God. Didn't the ten plagues teach you ANYTHING?! REPORTER -- Are you saying that your god, this god of your ancestor Abraham will somehow protect you against the most powerful army in the world? MOSES -- That's exactly what I'm saying. I'm saying that if Pharaoh doesn't call off this attack he will experience the ELEVENTH plague. REPORTER -- Can you be more specific? What will be the nature of this ELEVENTH plague? MOSES -- I'm not sure. God rarely reveals his plans in great detail, because his plans are usually more than man can imagine. REPORTER -- Can you at least give us a clue? MOSES -- The only message I have received from the Lord God is a message to our people. It is the reason I called this press conference. The message from God is "STAND FIRM". REPORTER -- "Stand firm"? That's it?! "Stand firm"? MOSES -- STAND FIRM. We Hebrews seem to have a very short memory. We just witnessed the most impressive show of God's power since creation. But as soon as my people heard rumors that the army was on the way, they forgot about how God protected them from all ten plagues back in Egypt and how God has promised to protect them in the future. They forgot and they began to fear for their lives. God says, "Stand Firm." REPORTER -- What could your God do to protect your people from the world's most powerful army? MOSES -- It's quite possible that the eleventh plague will kill Pharaoh himself and wipe out his entire army. REPORTER -- But the Egyptian army has your people trapped with your backs to the Red Sea. It will take you months to transport your people across in row boats, but the army will be here tomorrow! Your people are like sitting ducks! MOSES -- All I know is that God promised Abraham that he would protect his people. And he has kept his promise so far. Our people have grown in numbers from a few dozen to a few million under God's protection in Egypt. And now I'm confident that God will protect us as we cross over to Midian tomorrow. REPORTER -- The only question is HOW? MOSES -- I'm sure God will make it clear to all tomorrow before the Egyptian army arrives. Who knows? Perhaps the God who turned the Nile River into blood will part the waters of the Red Sea and let us WALK across on dry land to Midian. REPORTER -- Even if your pie-in-the-sky WALK to Midian becomes a reality, I don't see how that will protect you from the Egyptian army. Remember, they have chariots. You are on foot! They could follow you THROUGH the Red Sea to Midian. MOSES -- Let's suppose, for the sake of argument that God chooses to part the waters of the Red Sea and let us walk on dry land through the Red Sea. As soon as the last Hebrew gets to the other side, what's to keep God from reversing the flow of water and drowning the entire Egyptian army in one fell swoop? What I'm saying is, if we don't panic, if we stand firm and trust God to do what he promised he would do, we Hebrews will be protected from the Egyptian army as surely as we were protected from the ten plagues. (shouts) STAND FIRM. (exits) ©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: [email protected] BACK |