Baha'i Library Online

Scripts, plays, monologues, and screenplays

  1. Anne Gordon Perry. Behold!: A Program for the Bicentennial of the Birth of the Báb (2019). A fictionalized script of Bahá'í notables commenting on the 200th anniversary of the Bab's birth in 1819, based on passages from Robert Weinberg’s compilation The Primal Point: A selection of testimonials and tributes to the Báb and His followers.
  2. Ian Kluge. Coming Out (2001). Short, humorous play depicting the confusions that can result from trying to be too delicate in announcing one's commitment to the Bahá'í Faith.
  3. Roger White. Cup of Tea, A (1979). Monologue from the point of view of a fictitious character who meets 'Abdu’l-Baha. Upper class and prejudiced, she does not believe she can change her life sufficiently to embrace the Faith, but has a life-changing experience meeting the Master.
  4. James J. Keene. Dawn-Breakers Movie, The (1986). Sample sections of a movie script of historical fiction: preface, first scene, and appendices 1-5: Dawn-Breakers chronology, story outline and plot, and character visualizations.
  5. Anonymous. Divine Plan, The: A Skit (n.d.). 3-page screenplay dramatizing the building of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh and its unfoldment and spread across the world.
  6. Abdu'l-Bahá and Mary Basil Hall. Drama of the Kingdom (1933). A play written in 1912 by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while he was in London and adopted with permission by Mary Basil Hall (named Parvine by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá).
  7. Marlene Macke. Dramatic Readings (2017). Nineteen screenplays prepared as part of a Writers' collective at Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute, either fictionalized dramatic presentations of pivotal events in Bahá'í history or adapted from historical books.
  8. Mark Perry. Dress for Mona, A: Abridged one-act version (2002). The story of Mona Mahmudnizhad.
  9. Roger White. Figures in a Garden (1981). Fictional monologues of the Persian poet Táhirih (1817/18-1852) and the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).
  10. Roger White. Glimpses of Abdu'l-Baha: Adapted from the Diary of Juliet Thompson (1979). Portrayals and dramatizations in verse, adapted from recollections by Juliet Thompson.
  11. Laura Clifford Barney. God's Heroes: A Drama in Five Acts (1910). A play based on events in the lives of the early Babis, with a focus on Tahirih.
  12. Roger White. Indiscretion of Marie-Thérèse Beauchamps, The (1981). Fictional dramatization of a recollection of seeing Abdu'l-Bahá in Montreal (1912).
  13. Sarah Munro and David Cerpa et al. Instrument of Music, The: A Musical Comedy (2019). Dramatization of the role of music in the expansion and consolidation of Bahá’í communities, drawing on the example of Latin America, and the impact and use of music to contribute to the growth of any community.
  14. Naysan Sahba. It Is Written: A Monologue Recounting the Episode of the Martyrdom of the Báb (2001). Fictional monologue of a character who participated in the execution of the Báb.
  15. Sarah Munro. Josie McFadden (2013). Josie McFadden is a fictitious character who works in the home of Reverend Frederick White and his wife, Jane Elizabeth White, actual people who hosted Abdu'l-Bahá in Edinburgh. Though this monologue is fiction, it is based on real events.
  16. Mark Perry. Layli, Majnun, and the Infernal Tree (2001). Short play dealing with the story of Layli and Majnun and partly inspired by the Seven Valleys.
  17. Janice Auth. Letter of Jane LeDeau (2000). The story of Abdu'l-Bahá’s visit to Pittsburgh PA on May 7, 1912, as told through the eyes of a fictional observer at His talk. While the descriptions are specific to Pittsburgh at that time, this script can help serve as an example for other communities.
  18. Nathan Ashelman. Love of the Master, The: A Visit with Curtis Kelsey (2012). Fictional dialogue of Curtis Kelsey's visit to a Bahá'í Conference in 1958, on the themes of Abdu'l-Bahá's all-encompassing love and joy; firmness in the Covenant; service.
  19. Vasu Mohan and Donna Denize et al. Monologues on the Bicentenary of the Birth of Baha'u'llah and Howard University Visit Commemoration (2017). Five biographical monologues delivered in the fictionalized voices of Harriett Gibbs Marshall, Laura Dreyfus Barney, Louis Gregory, Alain Locke, and Pocahontas Pope.
  20. John Chesley. My Name is John Good, Servant of the Servant (2013). John Good was a man who heard Abdu'l-Bahá speak at the Bowery Mission in New York in 1912. From his boyhood, he had spent most of his life in prison. The main material for this characterization is from the diary of Juliet Thompson et al.
  21. Anne Gordon Perry. Promise of Peace (2015). A dramatic reading for two voices, incorporating various excerpts from Bahá’í Writings. It's a flexible script and can be modified in any way.
  22. Horace Holley. Read-Aloud Plays (1916). Nine short plays. Contains no mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
  23. Rhonda Palmer and Anne Gordon Perry. Remembering The Master (2012). Variations on a script for 1-3 voices, with both monologue and presentation versions, consisting of fictionalized retelling of stories about Abdu'l-Bahá visiting America.
  24. Ben Roskams. Sailor's Problem, The (1995). A short play about unity featuring Sherlock Holmes.
  25. Anne Gordon Perry. Sarah Farmer Monologue (2005). Created for performance in the New Hampshire Chautauqua Series and at Green Acre, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.
  26. Roger White. Settling the Score With Mr. Ogden Nash for the Seven Spiritual Ages of Mrs. Marmaduke Moore and Thereby Achieving if Not a Better Verse at Least a Longer Title (1979). A dialogue for two readers, adapted from a poem.
  27. Roger White. Some Sort of Foreigner (1981). Fictional dramatization of an encounter with Abdu'l-Bahá in 1911, and reflections on "this business of religion."
  28. Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum. Spiritual Assembly's Growing Pains, A (1976). A play, in 28 pages, showing "some of the workings of a Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly: some of the blunders, some of the problems; how certain types of people fit better into one office and others into another."
  29. Terre Ouwehand. Tahirih (1816 - 1852) (1984). Written for performance in 1984, published 2015.
  30. Sarah Munro and Sofie Geschier. This Gem-Studded Crown: A Dramatic Sketch (2017). Fictional dialogue of the first of eight actual meetings between Martha Root and Queen Marie of Romania, in January 1926.
  31. Olivia Kelsey. Two Shall Appear (1943). A play which attempts to depict in a brief form the background and some of the heroic events of Bahá'í history.
  32. Pierre Spierckel. Vojdani: Ou, La quête: drame en huit tableaux (2007). Drame relatant la recherche spirituelle de Vojdani telle que contée dans "Fire on the Mountain Top", joué par de jeunes gens bahá'ís et chercheurs.
Home Site Map Links Tags Chronology About Contact RSS