Here’s
a readers’ theatre setting of Acts 16: 16-34, one of the suggested scripture
readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter, Year C. It is set for three voices.
Readers’ Theatre
(Acts 16: 16-34)
One: One day as we were going down to the place
of prayer,
we met a demon-possessed slave girl.
She was a fortune-teller
who earned a lot of money for her masters.
She followed Paul and the rest of us,
shouting,
Two: These men are servants of the Most High
God,
and they have come to tell you how to be
saved.
One; This went on day after day until Paul got
so exasperated
that
he turned and said to the demon within her,
Three: I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her.
One; And instantly it left her.
Her
masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered,
so
they grabbed Paul and Silas
and
dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.
Two: The whole city is in
an uproar because of these Jews!
They
are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.
One; A mob quickly formed against Paul and
Silas,
and
the city officials ordered them stripped
and beaten with
wooden rods.
They
were severely beaten,
and then they were thrown
into prison.
The jailer was
ordered to make sure they didn’t escape.
So the jailer put
them into the inner dungeon
and clamped their
feet in the stocks.
Around
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and
the other prisoners were listening.
Suddenly,
there was a massive earthquake,
and
the prison was shaken to its foundations.
All
the doors immediately flew open,
and
the chains of every prisoner fell off!
The
jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.
He
assumed the prisoners had escaped,
so
he drew his sword to kill himself.
But
Paul shouted to him,
Three: Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!
One: The jailer called for lights and ran to the
dungeon
and
fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
Then
he brought them out and asked,
Two: Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Three: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be
saved,
along
with everyone in your household.
One: And they shared the word of the Lord with
him
and
with all who lived in his household.
Even
at that hour of the night,
the
jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.
Then
he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.
He
brought them into his house and set a meal before them,
and
he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
