Good Samaritan, a speaking skit for 4 clowns, courtesy of Grannie & Lorenzo
(With apologies to Oscar Hibpshman)
Characters: Lorenzo (L), Grannie (G), Jake (J), Ariel (A)
Props: Stick horse, Bottle of medicine, Musical fan, Band-Aids, Lorenzo’s cowboy hat, Large coin – or Monopoly money, Ariel’s cowboy hat, Gold brick, Lone Ranger masks (2), Super 8 sign, Paper flower, Large Bible, Screamer balloons (not blown up), Large song book, Knobby balloons (blown up), Pocket watch
(Grannie enters and addresses the kids)
G: Hi kids. Remember me? I’m Grannie! Tonight we’re going to talk about something both wonderful and important. Friends.
Well, actually we’re going to talk about neighbors. Neighbors are a lot like friends. In fact, to be a good neighbor you have to be a good friend too.
How many of you have neighbors? Wow! That many? Everybody? That’s great?
Well, tell me, . . . how do you show you are a good neighbor? (Listens to several kids). Yes, those are very good ideas.
But what do you think should make you want to do those things?
Once a man asked Jesus about this. What he wanted to know was how he could truly be a good neighbor. But he was worried. He thought he might have to do something hard – like be nice to someone he really didn’t like. So what he asked was,
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
And Jesus told him a story. We’re going to put on a play about that story tonight. We changed a few minor details – because we’re clowns – but it’s the same story. We hope you like it.
Once there was a clown named Lorenzo
(Lorenzo grins and points to himself.)
Lorenzo had some real nice things, Like:
- A magical musical whirligig (Lorenzo picks it up & twirls around with it.)
- And a gold brick, in case he needed money (L shows it off.)
- And a really BIG cowboy hat (L puts it on.)
- And a very stylish gold dress coat (L puts it on.)
- And a neat flower for his front pocket (L inserts it.)
- And fancy shoes with bells all over ‘em (L jingles the bells.)
- And a bright orange nose of which he was especially proud (L points to it with pride.)
The way Lorenzo felt about his things was:
L: What’s mine is MINE – I’ll just ENJOY it!
G: One day Lorenzo decided to take the ferry to Haines. So he started out . . .
L: Here I go, I’m on my way to Haines with all my things. I want to enjoy Haines, so I’m taking all my things with me.
G: Unfortunately, on the way to the ferry Lorenzo fell among bandits. Well, OK. He didn’t really fall among bandits. They fell on him. Well that isn’t quite right either.
(Jake & Ariel should put on their Lone Ranger masks & pump up the screamer balloons while Grannie is talking.)
G: What really happened was that the bandits jumped on Lorenzo!
(When Grannie says, “the robbers jumped on Lorenzo”, Jake and should:
- Let the screamer balloons fly at Lorenzo
- Grab the knobby balloons and begin to hit Lorenzo repeatedly around the head and shoulders
- And knees
- And butt
- And back
- And all points in between and beyond.
Lorenzo will reel and stagger & fall down and let his feet flop up and down.)
L: Yikes! WHOA Boy! OOOH! Ouch! Ouch! AH! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Oh, nooo! Oooof! Oooof! Ow!
Screams: (dodging): Aaaaaaughh! Oh! Oh! Ow!
G: Then the bandits took Lorenzo’s magical musical whirligig.
And his gold brick
And his really BIG cowboy hat.
And his stylish gold coat
And his pocket flower
And his fancy shoes with bells all over …
Why, they even grabbed Lorenzo’s beautiful bright orange nose of which he was especially proud – right off his face!
L: Ow-oh-uuu-wittchh!!!
G: As the bandits ran off they shouted:
J&A: What’s yours is OURS! We’ll TAKE it!
G: And away they went, laughing gleefully.
(Bandits run to the right, then down the side aisle and behind the kids, and around to the left of the front, to await next parts.)
G: So. There was poor Lorenzo, just lying there beside the road. He was so hurt her couldn’t walk. In fact he was so hurt he couldn’t even THINK! He couldn’t do ANYTHING! All he could do was just lay there.
(While Grannie is saying this Jake and Ariel remove masks. Jake grabs the Bible and watch. Ariel picks up the Hymnal.)
G: But pretty soon along came a preacher who passed near where Lorenzo was laying. (Jake walks toward Lorenzo.)
But when he saw Lorenzo lying there the preacher said:
J: Oh, dear. This person looks really hurt.
(Jake looks at his watch.)
But look at the time! I’ve gotta be at the church in ten minutes. I don’t want to get involved.
(Jake crosses over as close as he can get, to the front pews and inches his way to the right side, while carefully avoiding Lorenzo.)
G: So the preacher crossed the road and left poor Lorenzo where he was. And as he disappeared, you could hear him say:
J: What’s mine is mine – I’ll KEEP it.
G: A little later, along came a song leader, who also saw Lorenzo.
(Ariel walks toward Lorenzo, then stops suddenly, and says:)
A: Eee-ewwwww! He looks really awful. But I can’t touch him, because I’ll get all dirty. And I have to look good to lead the music at church.
(Ariel also crosses as near the pews as she can, and walks quickly away.)
G: As the song leader disappeared out of site she hollered:
A: Yuck! What’s yours is yours – and you can KEEP it.
(Ariel drops the song book and puts on her cowboy hat and picks up stick horse.)
G: Some time later a cowgirl came riding by from Swampy Acres.
(Ariel walks slowly toward Lorenzo, carrying the horse in her hand. She stops and looks down at him.)
A: Dear me! How sad. This poor clown looks hurt. How can I help him? – I know!
(Ariel bends down and says to Lorenzo:)
That’s OK Mr. Clown. What’s MINE is YOURS, I’ll SHARE it.
(Grannie walks toward the right side of the stage:)
G: The cowgirl took some medicine out of her saddlebags and poured it on Lorenzo’s wounds.
(Ariel does this.)
L: Oh! Oooh! Ow! Ahhhhhhhhh!
G: And she bandaged his wounds
(Ariel does this.)
G: Then she let Lorenzo ride on her horse. (Ariel takes Lorenzo by the left hand. He gets up slowly. Ariel holds the horse in her right hand and leads Lorenzo across the stage to where Grannie is standing.)
(Grannie holds up the Super 8 sign:)
G: And the cowgirl took the clown to an inn. Then she gave the innkeeper some money and said:
(Ariel gives Grannie money:)
A: Here is some money to take care of this clown. If it costs more I’ll give it to you the next time I’m in town.
G: And with that the cowgirl rode off into the sunset.
(Ariel rides down the right side aisle:)
A: Hi-Yo Horsie! Awaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!
(Grannie walks back to the middle of the front:)
G: When Jesus finished this story he asked his friend, “Which of these people was a neighbor to this man?” Which do you think it was? (Let’s a kid answer.)
G: That’s right. The one who helped him. And do you know why? Because he shared with the person who needed help. If we want to be real neighbors we will always try to share with those around us.