Just a little window into the script-development process.
“When Grace Appeared” is the working title of my newest production, and the earliest spark was this powerful painting I saw last Christmas Eve. I came home and started to compile a program…
…and nothing came of it. It was too big, and too much.
Fast-forward to this November.
My sister’s church invited me to perform my 2017 Mary monologue for their women’s Christmas dessert, and asked if I could edit it to add some specific themes. I wrestled with the writing process and before the monologue behaved, I had the idea of a letter from Eve to Mary, and that script practically wrote itself (Nothing like a deadline on one project to spark ideas for something brand new 
).
What would the original mother – and original sinner – say across the ages to a young pregnant woman carrying the Messiah?
The two monologues ended up being completed together, and fit with each other better than I could ever have planned if I had set to write them together.
I needed a third speaker to round out the story arc (you know I have to have a redemption element, because otherwise what’s the point of Christmas?) and Mary Magdalene is the perfect third monologue. She’s a follower of Christ, she helped bury Him, and was the first to witness His resurrection.
Just imagine her, clutching burial cloths and a jar of spices to her chest, tears streaming down her face, saying “I believed you, Jesus. … And then I buried you.” *Lights down*.
And so, as of today this brand new program is outlined, two monologues are complete, and the third is underway.