a spoken choral chant, add rhythm and instruments to the lament, and/or add gesture and movement. (See box, bottom right, for more.) Lament and the news:
Juxtapose the news with one or more psalms or other Scriptures. T is can be especially appropriate in times of crisis to help express people’s anguish following a disaster or tragedy, and to assure the gathered community that God is with us and will see us through the crisis. Two people can read this as an echo between the psalm and the news, or you can develop a choral reading with a larger group. Laments Based on Other
Scriptures: Some reader’s theater pieces are based on Scriptures other than the psalms, such as the prophets, Job, or the gospels. For example: “‘Lead Me to the Rock,’ Passion Service with Reader’s T e- ater,” by Sonya Vanderveen Fed- dema, is based on selections from Matthew framed by an expression of trust (Isaiah 53:5) and a request (Psalm 61:1-2).4 Creating laments to address
a theme or crisis: A class or group can develop a lament around a theme that addresses something painful, unjust, or that does not make sense. A reader’s theatre lament may express sorrow, frustration, guilt, anger, doubt, grief, or dismay (the complaint component). It can cry out to God (address), directly ask God to do something (request), and remind weary and broken worshippers that we can trust that God will be with us in the time of trial.
Creating a lament I teach a weekly Bible study
that recently began to study the psalms. I had previously introduced three major categories – praise, lament, and thanksgiving psalms with subdivisions in each category.5 I created a worksheet entitled “A
Prayer of Lament,” with empty spaces under Address, Complaint, Request, and Expression of Trust. Using Psalm 22 as an example, I had them fi ll in the spaces with the verse numbers that expressed the four elements. T ey discovered that not every verse fi ts into these four categories and the psalms don’t follow this structure in a neat order. For example, complaints and expressions of trust are woven throughout much of Psalm 22.6 I broke the class into groups
of two or three and assigned each group a diff erent lament psalm to analyze. T ey recorded their answers on their worksheets. I rotated among the groups to assist those who wanted help. When the groups reported back, some com- mented that they had not realized how complex the psalms are. T is exercise lead to an intense discus- sion about whether or not it is ap-
propriate to complain to God. Like many people in North America, many were reticent to grumble about their own needs and they didn’t want to criticize God.7 I invited them to include
these elements of lament as they prayed the next week and to refl ect on it. I also invited members of the class to write their own lament on the handout to share with the class for following week. Although most groaned, “I couldn’t do that,” three brought back laments the next Wednesday. Two of the laments were corporate laments – liſt ing up problems of the world like hunger and injustice. One read her lament about not being able to complete her “to do list” and about her aching back. When I looked around the room, most of the women were nodding, including myself, because the particulari- ties of her own lament, fi lled with
Reader’s theater: fi ve suggestions
1. Choose an appropriate text. A story with plot and several charac- ters works best. A good example would be the woman at the well in John 4. You’ll need a storyteller (narrator) and a voice for each character.
2. Clarify who is speaking. Sometimes a passage will begin with a pronoun instead of a name: “He preached to the crowds” rather than “Jesus preached to the crowds.” Replace the pronoun with the name so the listener knows who it is.
3. Once the identities of the readers are established, drop the “he said, she said” parts of the narration. One of the reasons dramatic readings are eff ective is that they create immediacy and energy. Leave out non-essential narration.
4. If there is a lot of narration, use two voices. T is creates aural variety and energy. Don’t be afraid to split sentences, either.
5. Be creative! Although you won’t be adding anything to the text when you format a dramatic reading, you can certainly break it up in interesting ways. In the walk to Emmaus story, a long speech is given to one of the disciples on the road. It’s much more interesting, and realistic, to break up that speech between two people.
T at’s all there is to it. It’s a good investment of your time because the rewards are so great. If you do get pressed for time, you can order many of the NRSV lectionary passages formatted for dramatic readings from
www.actinginfaith.com for a very modest fee.
from “Five on the Fiſt h,”3 June 2010, by the Rev. Pamela Abbey
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ January-February 2014 • WorshipArts •
www.UMFellowship.org
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