Description

This monologue tells of the girl Hadassah who became Esther, Queen of Persia. This orphaned young woman grew up in the care of her uncle Mordecai, a man prepared to stand up for his principles against powerful people, and he passed those qualities on to Esther. Together they changed the law of the land. In order to fight injustice, we must have the courage to oppose those who hold others under their power. And we must break the chains of fear which hold us back.
I wrote this script for a dynamic church who do a lot of things right in their worshipping. When I write a script I spend a lot of time in research and this is one of the many personal benefits I get from working closely with our DramaShare members, I get exposed to projects and priorities of others, often into areas which, admittedly, I may not otherwise have spent much time. The story of Esther did hit home with me since I had a sister, Esther, now gone home to the Lord, and she demonstrated many of the characteristics of her namesake in the Bible. My Esther never married, looked after my mother until Mom died shortly before her 100th birthday. My Esther was a staunch supporter of family, especially standing up for her siblings and their children, and their children as well.
I am grateful to the church which found this need for a custom-written script. Custom script writing is one of the many advantages we offer our DramaShare members. If you have a special script idea in mind, or simply need a current DramaShare script “tweaked” a little, give me a call, (toll-free 1-877-363-7262 in N America), or email me, ([email protected])

Bible Reference: Esther

Cast: 1

Set: blank

Lighting, Sound: standard

Costumes: could be traditional or contemporary

Props: none

Time: 12

Sample of script:

They call me . . . Hadassah!

They call me . . . . Esther!

They call me . . . Queen of Persia!

These are . .  names. . . . merely names!

Some would call me . . .  scheming.

Others would refer to me as . . . . ruthless.

Some want to categorize me as a . . . feminist.

Why must people assign a tag?

A tag is like a meaningless mist that covers the fertile land, like the odor of a tender steak being prepared on a hot fire . . sometimes pleasant but never filling.

But you need to know my story, my beginnings, where I came from. Listen closely and I will explain.

My father Abihail and his wife died when I was a child, and it fell to my uncle, Mordecai, to provide a home and upbringing. Mordecai was a warm and wise Jewish man, and I loved him and he loved me. But we were Jews in a foreign land, disrespected and downtrodden.

The ruler of the land was King Ahasuerus, (pronounced A?ashverosh), and he was married to his Queen, Vashti. The queen was said to be incredibly beautiful, but wicked and vain. However, I didn’t know and frankly, I had no interest in either she or the king. But I was soon to become intimately acquainted.

The king held an extravagant 180-day feast for his influential friends and the queen was busy entertaining wives in another part of the castle. The king requested his queen to appear before the king and his guests to show off her great beauty, an invitation which the queen unceremoniously declined. This refusal caused the king embarrassment and was greeted by shock and disapproval from men all over the land. King Ahasuerus thought it necessary to dispose of his queen and to start a search throughout the land for the most beautiful young virgin girl in the land.

Here is where I became involved in the story.

I, along with hundreds of beautiful young girls from all over the land, was brought to the castle and subjected to 12 months of intensive pampering and beauty treatment. From this group I was selected to be the king’s new queen.

Life was not unpleasant and, thankfully, I was able to have contact with my uncle, Mordecai.

One day when Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gates he overheard two of the king’s officers plotting to kill the king. Mordecai came to me at once with the news and I informed the king that his life was in danger. I ensured that the king was aware that it was Mordecai who had saved the king’s life.

But soon after it was not the king’s life, but the lives of all Jewish people which were in grave danger.

Almost since the beginning of time, my people have been under siege, enslaved, embattled, beleaguered . .  .

During my reign as Queen of Persia, a madman . . Haman the Agagite . . hatched a diabolical plan to eliminate the Jewish people.

Haman was one of the most prominent princes in the kingdom and had found favor with the king. Haman sent chills down my spine whenever I was near him; I neither liked nor trusted him. But my husband the king had signed a proclamation that, as Haman moved about, all people would bow to him. And, as you can imagine, my dear uncle Mordecai refused to bow down to anyone except his own God, Yaweh, and so, with the assistance of some of his unscrupulous friends, Haman hatched the idea to destroy, kill, annihilate all Jews in the land.

This disastrous news struck Mordecai like a thunderbolt. Although respect for his God disallowed him bowing to Haman, still Mordecai could not escape the fact that his action had put all Jews in peril. In his grief, Mordecai tore his clothes and put ash on his head, as was the custom of our leaders when faced with grief and mourning.

I sent new clothing to my uncle but he stoutly refused them, and he dropped another terrifying thought on me. . . Mordecai reminded me that I too was a Jew and if Haman were permitted to pursue his evil plan I too would be a victim. And with this, he explained that only the king could prevent Haman from carrying out this act of genocide, and only I had access to the king!