If your church is like mine, it has two services; one traditional and one contemporary. At our church, the average age is comfortably above 50 in the traditional service, and comfortably below that in the contemporary. While this works great for the pastor, who can modify his message for each group, and for the choir, which can sing different songs, it makes producing dramas that must be effective for each group extremely difficult.
As a writer, I’ve often found that a piece that hits with the older audience will miss the younger set, and vice versa. Here are some ways that I’ve found to make each piece speak successfully to each group.
Begin with the Message
In Christian drama, each piece is designed to highlight a specific message. Let that message be your mission, your raison d’être. Compare each character against the message – does he fit? Is he telling the story? If not, chop him out or change him. In sketches, there’s no time for loose characters. That’s not a multigenerational thing. It’s just good writing.
The other rule of good writing is always the same, too: resolve a conflict. I recently judged a high school competition where each student wrote and performed his own piece. A stunning little actress played a piece called “The News” about a revolutionary war era bride whose husband had been called to war and was ultimately killed. It was well acted, but booooring. There was no problem to be resolved, which made it stunningly un-engaging. Make sure your characters have a problem to resolve. Their resolution should be your message.
I’ve found that the older generation relates to stories about honor and honesty, community spirit, and “doing the right thing.” The younger group responds better to stories about relationships, societal pressures, and personal responsibility. There is a very wide gap between the two.
Think of how the message affects each generation. Unless you are six years old, chances are pretty high that you are a member of one of them. Couch the message in terms that appeal to you. Then look at it through the eyes of the other generation. Will they get it?
Don’t be afraid to stretch the message to make it fit both groups. Say that the message is “love one another.” You could do a striking piece about a father/son situation, or a punker and an old lady stuck at a bus stop. There is love to be shown in each piece, and your message, although different in circumstance, is the same for each. Your job is to tell the story. You can bend it however you wish!
Mix Your Generations
The surest way to get the attention of each generation is to make sure each is represented in your piece. A piece about two elderly gentlemen may play with the older set, but could go right past the younger. An older gentleman sharing advice with a younger man, however, will more likely affect both groups.
There is a great source of humor in mixing the generations, too. Each group likes to laugh at themselves, and has to put up with the foibles of the other. That’s meaty stuff, there. Old people can never hear, and young people are self-absorbed. Play on those circumstances and you’ll have a sure fire hit!
I often find the message is most effective to both groups when the young and old discover it together. It is important to deliver the message subtly, of course. Nobody in real life says “I get it! We’ve got to love one another!” It just doesn’t happen like that. But when the punker and the old lady find a common truth, you’ll find that the moment will ring true for both audiences.
Don’t Forget the Rule of Threes
Comedy is comedy, whether it’s for octogenarians or teens. Don’t forget your basic rule of comedy – think in threes. Little joke, little joke, BIG joke. Set up, set up, Smack! Watch sitcoms and count the laughs – professional writers write in sets of three. Three is an ancient, mystic number. I’m pretty sure those ancient mystics wrote their skits in sets of three, too!
Find the Truth
My sister-in-law is a famous actress. I was speaking with one of her colleagues the other night, who told me my sister-in-law won’t consider a part ready to play until she’s drilled through to the very truth of the piece. Her performances are always breathtaking because she shows the deep truth inside her characters.
As a writer, your job is to bring truth to your characters. Actors should play their lines from their heart rather than from their minds. Your job is to put that heart into the characters in the first place. Your characters must be in realistic circumstances, and must react reasonably.
The conflict to be resolved, by which your message is delivered, needs to be realistic as well Your characters need to make discoveries along the way, and their reactions need to be realistic.
Once you’ve written your piece, have members of each group read it with you. Listen carefully to their reactions. Then, pester ‘em with questions about the message, about how your characters react, about whether the piece has meaning for them or not. Their reactions will guide you in writing accurately.
Finally, Write with Love
Regardless of the message, people really do love one another. That love can be expressed with friendship, loving gestures, anger, hurting, even hatred. But, deep down, people really do have a genuine regard for one another. It’s why we don’t run over each other.
Your piece needs to reflect that regard, because that is truly how we behave. Even in a piece where the characters hate one another, it is that lack of regard that makes for honesty, and for good drama.
Regardless of the generation, a piece will have meaning if it centers on a realistic conflict, features realistic characters, and, most of all, reflects the love people have for one another.
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