Church Skits & Plays
An Easter skit for a small churchThe Saturday Bus3 actors · 5 min

Easter · 3 actors · 5 minutes · Two women and a child (8–11)

The Saturday Bus

On the long bus ride home from a prison visit the day before Easter, a tired mother decides this was the last trip, and the quiet woman across the aisle turns out to know the trip from the other side. A funny, then tender Easter skit for two women and a girl.

$8USD, tax included
  • Instant PDF download, yours to keep
  • Performance rights for your whole church
  • 30-day refund if it doesn’t fit your church
Running time5 minutes
Cast3 roles · Two women and a child (8–11)
PrepRead from the script, with one walk-through so the three of them sway together. Everyone’s lines hide in something they’re holding.
Best forEaster Sunday or a Saturday evening service the night before Easter in a small church; Easter program; a women’s gathering in the Easter season; a service with a prison ministry emphasis
ScriptureLuke 4:18 (KJV)
ThemeChrist didn’t wait for us to come to Him. He came to the guilty and the locked-up, “to preach deliverance to the captives.”
FormatPrintable PDF

About the skit

Renee and her daughter Addie are on the four-hour ride home from Thistle Ridge State Prison, and Marlene, across the aisle with a clear plastic bag on her lap, knows every stop and every rule. The guard took Addie’s chocolate egg for her dad (“Still outside food”), you have to mail the card, and the first time Renee came they sent her home for wearing khakis.

Then Renee says this was their last trip, and Addie still hasn’t given her dad the card. When Addie asks Marlene who she goes to see, the answer changes the ride. Marlene tells it flat, the way she’d tell you the bus schedule, and the line that matters most is Addie’s, though she doesn’t know it. It rests on Luke 4:18, “to preach deliverance to the captives.”

About five minutes for two women and a girl (or a boy), with four chairs for a set and every line hidden in something they hold. The staging notes cover the bus sways, keeping every laugh on the visiting rules and never on the people inside, and how to be gentle with families in your church who have someone in prison.

Read the first page

(The three hold still for a slow count of three. RENEE closes her eyes. ADDIE looks out the window. Then all three sway together as the bus takes a long curve.)

ADDIE: How many more stops?

MARLENE: Eleven.

(ADDIE and RENEE both look at her.)

MARLENE: Eleven to Main Street. Fourteen to the depot.

RENEE: You ride this a lot.

MARLENE: I know this bus.

ADDIE: Can we get a pretzel at the depot?

RENEE: We get off before the depot.

MARLENE: Pretzel stand closes at five anyway.

ADDIE: What time is it?

MARLENE: Twenty to five. You're not making it.

ADDIE: (to RENEE) The guard took my egg.

RENEE: I know, baby.

ADDIE: It was for Daddy. It was chocolate.

MARLENE: No outside food.

ADDIE: It was inside the foil.

MARLENE: Still outside food.

RENEE: Four hours on a bus to Thistle Ridge, to sit at a little table for two hours, and you can't even hand him a chocolate egg.

MARLENE: Or a card. You mail the card.

The script continues in the full PDF.

Characters

  • Renee, a mother who has ridden this bus once a month for two years; tired, dry and, as of today, done
  • Addie, her daughter, about nine, who asks everybody everything; can be a boy (Andy)
  • Marlene, an older woman across the aisle with a clear plastic bag; knows every rule and every stop

Props

  • Four chairs in two pairs, with an aisle between them
  • A clear plastic bag with a sweater, a paperback and a manila envelope
  • A homemade Easter card for Addie
  • A folded bus schedule for Renee
  • Optional: a small backpack for Addie

What you get

  • The full script with stage directions
  • Cast list, props list and simple staging notes
  • Four discussion questions for a small group, youth group or Sunday school class
  • Performance rights for your church: perform it as often as you like and print copies for your cast

Performance rights

One purchase covers one church or ministry. Perform it as many times as you like, make copies for everyone in the cast and crew, adapt the lines and include it in your livestream. Please don’t resell the script or share the file publicly. Read the full license.

More for your Easter program

Questions

Can I change the names or lines?

Yes. Change names and genders, trim lines for time or adapt a joke for your church. The script is yours to fit to your people.

Can we record and stream the performance?

Yes. You can include it in your livestream and post the recording on your church’s own channels.

How do I get the file after I buy?

Right after checkout you get a download link on the confirmation page and by email. It works for up to 20 downloads, and each copy is marked with your order so it stays licensed to your church.

Who is the seller on my receipt?

Payments are processed by Link, Stripe’s checkout, which acts as the reseller. Your card statement shows LINK.COM* CHURCHSKITS. Questions about the script itself come to us at hello@churchskits.org.

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