A Never-Ending Love

 written by Cheryl Taylor

Taylor Made Ministry, Copyright, 1998

 

Excerpt #1

Scene I: The Mullins Kitchen - Tuesday Evening - (Group of teens along with Mrs. Mullins, and Aunt Maggie gather in the Family Room, talking, laughing. Date: A few days before the Christmas Program)

*****

Cory: (laughing) Now, listen guys, I'm telling you, it was hilarious!

Ashley: I hope the actual play is as entertaining as the rehearsals!

Morgan: Oh, and that's not all that happened. Cory, tell her about Jason and Kelly arguing.

Cory: Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. See, first of all Baby Jesus keeps disappearing.

Kara: Jesus keeps disappearing?

Morgan: Yeah, and we have to stop practice every ten minutes to locate this baby doll.

Matthew: Anyway, Jason and Kelly find Baby Jesus hidden in the bulrushes in a little basket - No wait, that was Moses, wasn't it?

Kara: That was funny, you goofball! Where was he?

Morgan: He was in the baptistery. Way down in the bottom.

Kara: Were they trying to see if he could swim?

Mom: Somebody threw a baby in water to teach him how to swim? Where? I'm telling you the truth - people now days are so mean. Were they in some kind of cult? I saw that on 20/20 the other night. It was pitiful the things these crazies do to babies

Maggie: Why, that's terrible! Little babies - I would love to have you children as little babies again. Why you've all grown up so much... Where's my hanky, sis...I think I'm gettin' all sentimental again... (begins to cry)

Kara: Mom, calm down, you've got Aunt Maggie crying again. Between Aunt Maggie and Katey, I don't know who is the worst. They're trying to tell me about the baby in the Christmas play rehearsal at church.

Mom: Oh, the play isn't about child abuse, is it?

Kara: Mom, please.

Mom: Sorry.

Matthew: Now, where were we. Oh, I know, in the baptistery.

Jennifer: Yeah, you should have seen them. They both went head first into the pool. Mrs. Vance just held her breath!

Ashley: I wish we would have left the water in there from last week when Ryan got baptized!

Ryan: Hey, that's not funny! That water was like ice! I think you all told (your pastor's name) not to use the hot water. Brrrr!

End of Excerpt #1

 

Excerpt #2

Kara: Katey is not in a very good mood tonight.

Lauryn: Believe me, I could tell.

Katey: Mood? Is that what you think this is - a bad mood?!

Kara: Please, Katey, don't start again. You have already run my other friends off tonight.

Katey: Who needs them?

Kara: I need them. And so do you. They were just trying to get you involved in church. They wanted to help you start living again!

Katey: I am the one who doesn't have anything to live for. Brandon was my boyfriend - my fiancé. Why are you always worried about your friends and how they feel? And you - how can you go around giggling and clowning all the time. I got an engagement ring from Brandon. Didn't you think about how I would feel if you came over here bragging?

Lauryn: Katey, I'm sorry. I guess it was selfish of me to not consider how this would make you feel. I was just so excited - I wanted to share this feeling with everyone.

Katey: How can you be this happy? It's not fair. I am miserable without Brandon.

Lauryn: Now wait just a minute Katey. You're not the only one that misses Brandon. He is - he was my big brother. He taught me to ride a bike, to tie my shoes - why you two are responsible for me being introduced to Mark.

Katey: Then how can you act this way now? He's gone.

Lauryn: I know he's gone and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him. It's hard for me just to walk by his room. Sometimes I expect him to hit me with that old nerf ball, or yell, "Hey, Sis, come and look at this" and it will be something goofy on TV.

Katey: You just act like your life is back to normal.

Lauryn: My life will never be the same without him.

Kara: Katey, life has to go on.

Lauryn: You're forgetting that Brandon was not only a great brother - he was a great Christian. I have to have hope that I will see him again.

Katey: Well, if that's what you want to believe, go ahead. But I don't want to live without him. There has got to be more to living than this. You all don't seem to remember that my heart is broken.

Kara: How could we not remember it, Katey. You won't leave the house, you don't eat, you're up all hours of the night. We couldn't forget if we wanted to.

Katey: Just leave me alone. (Slams door as she leave the stage. Curtain closes while the other girls seemed stunned and saddened.)

End of Excerpt #2

 

Excerpt #3

Morgan: Our lives will never be the same, but we have to go on. Are you really trying?

Katey: What do you mean, am I really trying? That's a dumb question. Don't you understand? He was the best thing that ever happened to me. We were so much in love.

Morgan: Katey, I've never been through anything like this. But you keep making a statement that confuses me. You keep saying that Brandon was the best thing that ever happened to you.

Katey: Morgan, you don't understand. You've never been in love, have you?

Morgan: No, I haven't. But there was a time when you used to say that God, not Brandon, was number one in your life.

Katey: That's different. I used to believe that God's love was all I needed. But I prayed for Brandon to recover from that concussion, but he didn't, and do you know why? Because God didn't want him to recover. He didn't want us to get married. He didn't want him to see his 21st birthday!

Morgan: Katey, I don't know why God chose to take Brandon home to be with him, but as Christians, it's not up to us to try and figure everything out. We have to trust that He knows all and all things will work to the good of them that love Him.

Katey: Morgan, let me just ask you a question. If Jesus loves me so much, why does it feel like he is a million miles away?

Morgan: Well, I don't think that Jesus is a million miles away. He is in the same place he has always been.

Katey: What do you mean?

 

End of Excerpt #3

“A Never- Ending Love”

Production Notes

 

This play, A Never-Ending Love, is probably my favorite in all the plays I have written.  It takes a little more pre-performance work, but the results are worth it.  There is a slide-show at the end that has to be ready for the first performance, so this is not a play that can be done at the last minute. 

 

Brandon - When choosing someone for this part, you must keep in mind that he has no speaking parts, and does not even have to be present for the performance.  However, it must be someone who doesn’t mind playing the part of a deceased person.  You should also make sure this is OK with his parents as they may have qualms about this. 

 

Katey, the main character, is depressed after her fiancé , Brandon, was killed in a hunting accident.  At one point in the play, Katey is alone in her living room, thinking about their relationship and his death.  While she is pacing, looking at pictures, etc. the slide show (her thoughts) is being seen by the audience.   This can be displayed using a regular slide projector on a nearby solid colored (preferably white) wall or a large screen.  While the slides are being shown, a song is also being played.

 

Pictures for this slide show should be taken as early as possible so you can decide which ones you want to use, how many, etc.  Since the slides should represent what Katey is thinking, I feel it should contain pictures of the couple with their friends (yes, your cast will probably enjoy posing for these!) and a few of them alone, and finally the events leading up to his death.  It would also be good to have a picture of a church since that is also discussed in the play.  The number of slides depends on the length of the song you are using.  Each slide should be shown for approximately seven seconds, so if the song lasts 3.5 minutes, this is adequate for thirty pics.  It is better to have too many and weed out the ones you don’t want to use. (Be sure you buy slide film and then specify when having them developed that it is slide film.  You can have pictures changed into slide but it is rather costly.) 

Cast of Characters

 

Katey               20 years old, just lost fiancé in hunting accident, moody, emotional

Kara                Katey’s younger sister

Cory                teen boy

Ashley              teen girl

Morgan            teen girl, serious at times

Matthew           teen boy

Mrs. Mullins     Mother - Kara’s and Katey’s mother

Aunt Maggie     Mrs. Mullins’ sister, emotional

Ryan                teen boy

Jennifer teen girl

Lauryn              older teen, has a sense of humor, shows emotions

Brandon           Older teen, young adult (not seen in person, only in pictures)

 

 

Notes:

 

All scenes take place in the Mullins house except one.  If your stage is large enough, you could have the living room on one side with the kitchen/family room on the other, or a combination of the two.  Wicker furniture is good to use as it can be moved easily, yet still looks like furniture.  For the final scene in the living room, we used a halogen lamp and dimmed it for this scene so the slide presentation could be seen more easily.  A fireplace with a mantel is a good prop as it can display Brandon’s picture throughout the scene.  (You could use the kitchen scene throughout the play, but it seemed more effective to have Katey in another room for her meditation.)

 

The Play Practice scene can be a small place in front of the stage.  You need just enough room for the group to sit and talk as if they are sitting on church steps.  We accomplished this with a few folding chairs and the altar.

 

Props:

 

Snacks (chips or cans of soda)

Kitchen table and chairs

Living room furniture

Bible

Photo Album

8 x 10 picture of Brandon

Halogen Lamp

Robe (Katey wears robe throughout play - depressed, doesn’t want to get out of the house)

Jackets for teens

Coat Rack