In our Christmas Play Lineup this month we’ve already featured Rejected: The Inside Story and Christmas at The Three Bees, and today we’re covering two more plays in one post. The Gift and Padlock Homes and the Case of the Missing Splinter are similar in length and tone, so they make a great pair to feature side-by-side.
First of all, these two plays are both super kid-friendly. They only run about 20 minutes or so in performance, so they can actually be performed by fairly young actors, and they’re certainly appealing to kids in the audience. They’re entertaining and, while they both carry the deep message of Christmas, they do so in a way that’s simple, lighthearted, and accessible to everyone.
The Gift is a retelling of the Nativity story from the perspective of two children who journey back in time and encounter the shepherds, the wise men, and ultimately the familiar scene in the stable itself. The kids learn that Christmas IS about gifts…but not in the way they’d thought.
The casting for The Gift is flexible: although there are 12 characters total, doubling parts can enable a cast of as few as eight actors to cover all the roles. The props and costumes are simple—think your traditional Nativity scene. For more information on casting, costuming, etc. you can read the play’s Production Notes, and details about the characters (including line counts for each role) are available in this Character List. If you’re interested, you can read a free excerpt from the script right here: Script Sample.
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Padlock Homes and the Case of the Missing Splinter is, if you didn’t already guess, a parody of Sherlock Holmes. (I’m sure you did guess.) Padlock and his trusty sidekick Dr. Arson (match-collector extraordinaire) team up with Inspector Distraught to solve the case of a sacred relic gone missing in a London convent. Yes, the kids (and adults) enjoy these characters, and the Christmas message is still there, reminding us of what things really matter in life.
Like The Gift, this play is simple in terms of props, and you can get all the details about set and costumes here in the drama’s Production Notes. Descriptions and line counts for the characters are all in the Character List, and you can read an excerpt from the script here in the Script Sample.
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If you’re interested in further information about The Gift or Padlock Homes, we’d love to hear from you! You can message us through our Contact page or simply send an email to kittywham@gmail.com. These and our other Christmas scripts are on sale through October 1st, so you have two more weeks to save 20% if one of these plays will work for your drama program this December!
