The play begins with the Narrator DOWN RIGHT. The crowd of 10 are at the back – UP CENTRE. In front of them are Peter, James & John, then Jesus is standing in front of them in the CENTRE. They are facing the audience except for Jesus who has his back turned as if he is talking to them. Jairus is standing DOWN LEFT with his back to the audience and the 5 mourners with speaking parts are behind Jairus facing the same way as him. As the Narrator begins, Jairus and the mourners walk towards Jesus and Jesus turns around to face Jairus. Jairus falls to his knees and momentarily bows his head then looks up at Jesus. The crowd of ten at the back are shifting around on their feet trying to see what is going on.
After the Narrator says, ‘He looked to his Father and prayed.’, Jesus pushes past Jairus and the 5 mourners and stands DOWN LEFT facing the audience but is looking upwards and silently mouthing words. His face is full of compassion. In the meantime, Jairus runs off stage UP LEFT. Everyone else is looking at each other, shrugging their shoulders and turning their palms upwards as to indicate that they don’t know what is going on. Jairus runs back onto the stage from UP LEFT and heads towards Jesus. He begins his dialogue as soon as he enters the stage. Both arms are up in the air. Jesus turns around slowly and as he does, Jairus grabs both of Jesus’ arms and shakes them violently. When the Narrator says, ‘As this declaration rose into the air…’, the crowd become fractious and some fall to their knees grasping their heads with both hands and others stay standing but have their hands over their faces. Their shoulders are shaking, as if sobbing uncontrollably. Please note that there should be minimal noise coming from the wailers so that the Narrator can be heard. Most of this scene should be in mime.
The disciples, Peter, James & John are stood standing in the same place and are watching everything that is going on. They look uncomfortable and confused and keep looking back at Jesus to see what he will do. Jesus positions himself so that the audience can see his face and watches the mourners silently. His arms are drawn inwards near his stomach and his hands are resting in the middle of his body with one hand clasped over the other. He stays like this while the mourners approach him with their accusations. When the Narrator says, ‘A face of calm and eyes of peace…’ Jesus stays where he is, he but looks upwards. He briefly closes his eyes then mimes ‘Talitha Cumi’ as if he is imagining something in his head. The disciples have been slowly pushed to the back of the crowd while this has been going on.
Jesus suddenly pushes through the crowd and grabs Peter James & John by gently pulling at their arms. The crowd automatically splits apart so that the audience can see this happening. Jesus and the 3 disciples then exit the stage UP RIGHT. The mourners have their back to the audience and are watching UP RIGHT even after Jesus and the disciples disappear. They dismissively flick their right hands forward and down in a swiping motion to indicate contempt and they look down to their feet shaking their heads as if they think Jesus is crazy and the situation is hopeless. They all walk towards UP LEFT to exit the stage and as the Narrator says, ‘Others walked off mocking: This man cannot be trusted.’
They start whispering loudly, ‘This man cannot be trusted.’ They say this four times as they exit the stage. The lights dim and the 5 mourners come back onto the stage in the dark and place the camp bed down LEFT CENTRE with the pillow being nearer the Backstage end.
As soon as the camp bed is positioned. The 5 mourners stand in front it with their backs to the audience blocking the sight of the bed, while the 5 non-speaking mourners enter and place a small table & glass of water positioned to the far left of the bed. Jairus’ daughter must follow these mourners close behind and place herself in a lying position on the bed.
When everything is in place, the lights go up and the Narrator begins. All ten mourners are walking towards the CENTRE as if exiting the bedroom and they are grabbing at their clothes and sobbing silently. They stop RIGHT CENTRE and face LEFT CENTRE where the girl is lying. Jesus and his 3 disciples enter the stage UP RIGHT with Jairus and his wife walking in front of them towards LEFT CENTRE. The mourners move forward, but Jesus stops, pushes them back and beckons to the parents and the 3 disciples to come with him into the ‘bedroom’. He kneels down by the bed and briefly places one hand on the girl’s forehead while holding her hand with his other hand. He then holds her hand with both of his.
Jairus and his wife are stood behind Jesus, near the door and drop to their knees and shut their eyes. The mourners push each other to try to be close to the door.
As the Narrator says, ‘Light flooded the room.’ The girl takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. She then turns her head at looks at Jesus who is still kneeling beside her. As he smiles at her, she smiles back, and she sits up. Jairus and his wife look at each other for a few seconds, then look at their daughter on the bed. They look at each other again and embrace. Jairus gets up to go towards his daughter, while the wife humbly stays back, allowing the head of the home to take the lead. Jairus hugs his daughter for a long while, then gets up and embraces Jesus who is now standing with his arm resting upon the shoulder of the wife, who is clutching the leg of Jesus in gratefulness. She has her eyes closed and is looking down, while her head rests upon Jesus’ leg. The girl points to the glass of water and Jairus gets it for her. The disciples are looking relieved and are now smiling at each other. Then the crowd of ten enter the stage – 5 of them from UP RIGHT and 5 FROM UP LEFT. They walk towards the middle and stop behind the others on stage. Everyone then turns so they are facing the audience directly and they all recite the last 2 choruses. As they get to the last chorus everyone moves so they are around Jesus. The people closest to him put their arms around his back and hold on to his arms but recite the last words looking straight ahead, as if they are presenting Jesus to the audience. As the lights fade, the narrator quotes the bible verse, and everybody is embracing each other and laughing.
