Synopsis of scenes
SCENE ONE: THE PROLOGUE
• Before diving into stories from Scripture, the script celebrates the voices of women in our own lives - our sisters, mothers, and grandmothers - as well as the voices of women from history. This opening invites the audience to be still and to simply listen to the stories that will follow.
SCENE TWO: THE CONFLICT
The Levite’s Concubine (Judges 19)
• One of the most disturbing passages in the Hebrew Bible. This scene is of the story of an unnamed woman who was thrown out as an offering to the men of Gibeah to protect the Levite. Near death, the Levite places her on his donkey to return to Ephraim. The text doesn’t reveal details about what happens next, although it does say that after she dies the Levite cuts the woman’s body into 12 pieces and sends them throughout the land as a warning.
SCENE THREE: THE HEALING / Risk-Taking
Woman with a Hemorrhage (Mk 5:25-34; Lk 8:43-48)
• While Jesus walks through a large crowd, a woman who was suffering from severe bleeding for 12 years pushes through the crowd and reaches up to touch Jesus. Instantly, her bleeding stops and she is fully healed because she took a risk and believed in herself.
SCENE FOUR: THE HEALING / Anger
Job’s Wife (Job 2:9-10)
• Job is a well-known figure in the Bible because of his undeserved suffering. He loses his children, possessions, and good health. His wife (who is unnamed) cannot stand to witness her husband’s acceptance of what has happened to them and tells him to curse God for the wrongdoings done to him. She encourages her husband to stand up for himself.
SCENE FIVE: THE HEALING / Justice
The Daughters of Zelophehad (Num 26:33; 27:1-11; 36:1-12; Josh 17:3-6; 1 Chr 7:15)
• This is about the five daughters (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) of Zelophehad and how they fight to gain the right for women to inherit their father’s land.
SCENE SIX: THE HEALING / Courage
Tamar (Gen 38; Ruth 4:12; 1 Chr 2:4)
• When Tamar’s husband dies without children, she marries his younger brother as was the custom. He also dies without children, and so Tamar, according to Levite law, should marry the next youngest brother but her father-in-law keeps him from her. To provide for her own future, Tamar tricks her father-in-law into sleeping with her so that she can have children and be ensured of her survival.
SCENE SEVEN: THE HEALING / I Matter
• Rahab is a prostitute living in the city of Jericho. Joshua sends two men out as spies to see Jericho so that they can invade. The king of Jericho finds out they are there and sends his soldiers to look for the spies. Rahab tells the king’s soldiers that the spies left when in reality she is hiding them and helping them escape. This scene tells the story of how Rahab defies the king and rescues the Israelites.
SCENE EIGHT: THE HEALING / NOT an Object
Vashti (Esth 1:9-19; 2:1; 4:17)
• Queen Vashti is the wife of the King of Persia. To celebrate his 3-year reign, he holds a 180-day party to show off his wealth. He drunkenly demands that his wife come out wearing her crown and only her crown to show her off to his friends. She stands up for herself and refuses, resulting in her banishment.
SCENE NINE: THE HEALING / Worthy of Love
The Shulammite Woman (Song of Songs)
• King Solomon’s romantic poetry shows the mutual relationship between a man and a woman. Though unnamed, her beauty is very well-known throughout the land, but she is not treated like an object. This scene helps to emphasize that the goal should be a loving, mutual relationships.
SCENE TEN: THE HEALING / Confidence
Miriam (Exodus 15; Numbers 12; 20; 26; Deut 24:9; 1 Chr 6:3; Mic 6:4)
• Moses and Aaron have an older sister named Miriam. She leads the people out of Egypt and then celebrates with them in song and dance. She and Aaron challenge the authority of their brother Moses, but the price is a heavy one. Her voice is silenced and her words and actions are no longer recorded.
SCENE ELEVEN: THE HEALING / Power
Deborah (Judges 4-5)
• Deborah is one of the charismatic leaders in the story of Israel taking the land of Canaan. This scene tells the story of the only female judge (and also the only judge to be referred to as a prophet) and how she leads her people in victory throughout the war.
SCENE TWELVE: THE HEALING / Nurturer + Caregiver + Sisterhood
Elizabeth, Mary, and Jochebed
• This scene celebrates motherhood with the stories of Elizabeth (mother of John), Mary (mother of Jesus), and Jochebed (mother of Moses) and what they went through as mothers.
SCENE THIRTEEN: THE CONCLUSION
• Now that the healing is complete, the script revisits the celebration of voice that is expressed in the Prologue. The lesson of each scene is revisited and the voice of every woman lifted up.
To receive a full copy of the script, please reach out to Dr. Linda Schearing. Contact information can be found here.