An Unfinished Work (QUICK DRAMA)

SCENE:       Alex is painting on a canvas mounted on an easel. The audience cannot see what is being painted, because the painting is facing away. Alex is deeply absorbed in his work and doesn’t notice when John enters.

JOHN:          Hey, Alex!  What are you doing?

ALEX:          Painting a self-portrait.

JOHN:          (Looking very skeptical…)  Really? It doesn’t look much like you.

ALEX:          Well, I’m not finished yet.

JOHN:          Hmmm…  I don’t think you’ll be able to make it work.  Maybe you could turn it into a picture of a monkey or something.

(Janet enters.)

JOHN:          Hey, Janet!  Take a look at this!  Don’t you think it looks like a monkey?

JANET:        No, but maybe it could be a penguin or something. What’s it supposed to be?

JOHN:          It’s supposed to be a self-portrait, but I wouldn’t tell anyone if I were you, Alex.

ALEX:          (Concentrating) It’s not done yet. I’m still working on it.

(Tony enters)

JANET:        Hey, Tony!  Come look at this penguin Alex is painting!

TONY:          That’s a penguin?  Looks more like a kangaroo to me.

JANET:        Oh, you’re right!  I see it now!

JOHN:          Better make it into a kangaroo, Alex.  It’s never gonna look like you.

ALEX:          (Pausing and looking at his friends) Of course it doesn’t look like me….yet.  It’s a work in progress. You shouldn’t judge a work of art before it’s finished. (Returns to painting with great concentration)

(John, Janet and Tony watch in silence as Alex paints.  After a few moments, their eyes grow wide in a look of surprise, and they all say, “Ohhhhhh…” in unison.”)

JOHN:          I see it now!

JANET:        That’s amazing!

TONY:          You turned that kangaroo into you!

(Alex stops painting, smiles big with satisfaction and takes the painting off the easel.  He then walks out of the room with his painting, being careful not to reveal it to the audience (unless you want to put an actual photograph on the canvas for effect).  John, Janet and Tony follow with “oohs” and “ahhhs” and other expressions of surprise and appreciation.)

END SCENE

NOTE:          The main teaching point of this drama is that we shouldn’t judge other people or even ourselves, because we are all a work in progress.  None of us matches the vision God has of what He knows we can be one day if we follow Him and obediently continue to do what He says in His Word.  If you don’t think this was clear, you may want to say it as you debrief the drama.

If you want to tie this to a Biblical story, you could use any of the following:

• Moses, who was “slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 3-4)
• Gideon, who the angel of the Lord called a “mighty warrior”  even when he was hiding from the Midianites. (Judges 6)
• Isaiah, who was a man of “unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6)
• Simon, who Jesus called “Peter” (the “rock”) even when He knew Simon would deny he even knew Jesus three times. (Matthew 16:13-20 and 26:69-75)