The Gold Cross
The Gold Cross is a play about man’s inability to recognize things of great value.
This play follows a golden cross as it changes hands from the family that once owned it, through many hands that don’t realize it’s worth (thinking it a simple cheap cross) and ultimately into the hands of a small church’s nativity play, where it is included as a prop among the gold offered at Christ’s birth by the wisemen. After the play, it is discovered that the gold cross is in fact a real, gold antique relic, and it provides the answer to the church’s prayers. The church is poor and is about to fold.
Symbolically, the cross travels from place of honor, into obscurity and off-scouring, and back into the humility of the manger, and back into a place of honor again. The gold speaks of divinity, and the same route Jesus traveled: from the heavens, down to earth, down into hell, and resurrected again. The cross is brought directly into the manger, tying the birth and the sacrifice together, marrying Christmas and Easter, if you will. And it speaks of hope, and the general theme of mankind, who has, has lost, and has again.
CAST:
JANE (adult)
JOHN (adult)
BILL (adult)
BILLY JR (youth)
JOE (youth)
JILL (youth)
PHIL (young adult male)
CHARLENE (young adult female)
BRAD (adult)
BAGLADY (adult)
BETTY (adult)
MISSY (adult)
DANNY (adult)
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NARRATOR (voice only)
JERRY (voice only)
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EXTRAS walking through park (optional)
NATIVITY SCENE (no dialog): MARY, JOSEPH, ANGEL, 2 SHEPHERDS, 3 WISEMEN
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[Some boxes and maybe a coat rack are on stage, with JOHN taping up a box. Enter JANE carrying a box.]
JANE: This is the last one. Where do you want it?
JOHN: Over here is fine, thanks.
JANE: [sets box down, then sits herself, tired] Man. I’m gonna need to soak in a hot bath tonight.
JOHN: I appreciate your help, hon.
JANE: Hey, what are wives for? When’s the estate sale start tomorrow?
JOHN: 9 am, I think. “Estate sale.” Most of this stuff is barely worth “garage sale.” Still, I wish we had more help. [Looks in last box]
JANE: What’s in there? More trinkets?
JOHN: Yeah, some odds and ends. Dad was kind of a pack rat. There no end to the stuff he gathered over the years. [Pulls out a hand puppet, puts it on] “Luke…I am your father.” [tosses it back in the box, pulls out something else, tosses it back in, rummages a bit, pulls out a cross] Dad had this on the wall for a long time. [hands it to JANE]
JANE: Whoa, it’s heavy. Where’d he get it?
JOHN: Who knows? I think he said his dad brought it back from Europe, from the war or something, I don’t know.
JANE: [examining it] World War 2?
JOHN: No, granddad fought in World War 1.
JANE: The Great War, eh?
JOHN: The War to End All Wars, they called it.
JANE: You think it’s real gold? [smiling, handing it back]
JOHN: Please. Even if it was gold plated, my dad would have sold it eons ago. It’s bronze or something, I don’t know. [tosses it back in the box]
JANE: Too heavy for bronze.
JOHN: Doesn’t matter. [tapes up the box]
JANE: Why are you sealing the boxes? Aren’t they just going to be opened up again in the morning?
JOHN: Symbolism, my dear! I’m finding closure.
JANE: Come on, don’t gimme that. You and your dad had a pretty good relationship.
JOHN: That’s true, that’s true. Well, it will give whoever buys this box something to open. Like Christmas.
JANE: Tis the season.
[JOHN and JANE pick up 2 boxes and leave. End scene]
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[Enter BILL carrying the box, still sealed, setting it down on the table. Calls out for his son, BILLY, who comes running in.]
BILL: Billy! Billy, come on in here for a second, son.
BILLY: [enters] What’s up, Dad?
BILL: Son, guess where I’ve been?
BILLY: [looks at the box] Umm… the attic?
BILL: Nope, I went to an estate sale today.
BILLY: Not again! I know, I know… I won’t tell mom.
BILL: Good boy. [rubs his hands on the top of the box, smiling]
BILLY: So, what did you get?
BILL: Don’t know yet.
BILLY: You didn’t open it?
BILL: Nope.
BILLY: Why not, dad? How do you know what’s in there?
BILL: Where’s your sense of adventure, my boy? Think of it! There could be anything in this box!
BILLY: I hope you didn’t pay a lot.
BILL: Money doesn’t matter. You never know what you’ll find at an estate sale! There could be treasure in here!
BILLY: Or a bunch of old socks.
BILL: Optimism, my son! Optimism. [pulls a small utility knife out of his pocket, cuts open the box, opens it up] OK, let’s take a look!
BILLY: [leaning over, looking in with his dad] Man, it’s a bunch of junk. I knew it.
BILL: Not so, my boy. Check this out… [pulls out some trinket, plays with it, the son laughs.] Or this… [pulls another item out, plays with it, son only smiles this time]
BILLY: Dad, come on, is there anything good in there?
BILL: Whoa. How about this? [pulls out the cross, hands it to his son] What do you think of that?
BILLY: Wow, cool! It’s so heavy. Can I have it?
BILL: Sure, son. It’s all yours. See, there was treasure in there after all.
BILLY: [Leans over and quickly rummages through box, seeing if there’s anything else worth noting.] Nah, the rest is junk. You can have it dad.
BILL: Why, thank you, Billy.
BILLY: [walking off] This is cool, Dad, thanks. Gonna go show it to Joe.
BILL: Tell him to keep that dog of his leashed. It’s driving your mother batty. [BILLY exits without comment] Of course, your mother’s been batty for years… [as he continues to pull stuff out to look at it. Fade lights]
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[JOE and JILL stand chatting. Each is wearing a backpack, as though coming back from school. Enter BILLY.]
BILLY: Joe! Wait up!
JOE: [Spots BILLY, shoulders slump, rolls his eyes at JILL] Hey, Billy. What’s up?
BILLY: Wanted to show you this cool cross my dad just gave me.
JILL: What, are you religious now?
BILLY: I’ve always been religious, Jill. And I wasn’t talking to you. I just thought it was cool, Joe. [Hands it to JOE]
JOE: Hey, nice. Heavy. That must be real gold. [JILL laughs, turns away]
BILLY: I don’t care if it’s gold or not. [Holds out his hand to take it back.]
JOE: [handing it to JILL instead] I gotta give you this one, Billy. It is very cool.
JILL: [Looking at it] It’s pretty grimy though. You should clean it off.
BILLY: With what?
JILL: Use window cleanser or something, I don’t know.
JOE: Or WD40.
JILL: It is heavy, you’re right. Don’t want to drop that on your foot. [Hands it back to JOE]
JOE: What will you take for it?
BILLY: What do you mean?
JOE: I’ll trade you for it. What do you want?
JILL: No, I’ll trade you for it. I have some stuff. [takes off her backpack, unzips it]
JOE: No way, I asked first. [Takes off his backpack too]
BILLY: Oooh! A bidding war! [rubs hands together] OK, what do you got?
JOE: I’ve got… [Rummaging] uh…three pencils, unsharpened. A pack of gum. Oh, wait… there! A couple anime DVDs!
JILL: Hey, you can’t trade those! You borrowed them from Richard!
JOE: I’ll tell him I lost ‘em.
JILL: I’ll tell him you traded them!
JOE: No, you won’t. You think Richard is a nerd, anyway.
JILL: I think you’re a nerd too.
JOE: What do you say, Billy, ol bean?
BILLY: [to JILL] What do you got?
JILL: Uh…well, I have some extra eye-liner. A copy of Pride and Prejudice from the library. A DS game called “Cooking with Barbie.” Pretty fun.
JOE: Bah, girl stuff. Come on, Billy. My brother Phillip will love that cross. He’s into gothic stuff now.
BILLY: Gothic stuff?
JOE: You know, like vampires and wearing black and stuff.
JILL: Think he’d want my eye-liner?
JOE: Very funny. Come on, Billy, what do you say? [Holds up the DVD, waving it]
BILLY: Done. [They swap items. Looking at the DVDs] Cool. I haven’t seen these. [Wanders off]
JILL: [sticks her tongue out at JOE] Well, I didn’t really want it anyway. [walks away]
JOE: Eh, who asked you? Phillips gonna love this. [exits]
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[PHILLIP sits on a bench, looking nervous. Enter JOE]
JOE: Hey Phil!
PHIL: [Startled, looking around] Beat it, punk. Go on, get out of here.
JOE: I brought you something…
PHIL: I said, get out of here! Charlene is supposed to pass here!
JOE: Oh, you gonna try to talk to her again?
PHIL: Shut up, twerp.
JOE: Is that why you’re not wearing your black clothes?
PHIL: She wouldn’t understand. Neither do you. Now, beat it.
JOE: [Hiding the cross] Well, I traded Billy for this cool cross. I was gonna give it to you, but you don’t deserve it.
PHIL: Whatever. Go away.
JOE: [bringing out the cross and dangling it] It’s really cool, Phil…
PHIL: I said—hey, lemme see that.
JOE: Hmm? Oh, I was just going. Someone told me repeatedly to beat it…
PHIL: Don’t make me have to pound on you. Gimme that. [JOE hands him the cross] Check this out! Nice! It’s so heavy.
JOE: I told you.
PHIL: I love it. Thanks, bro.
JOE: Hey, not so fast, pal. I was gonna give it to you, but you treated me like dirt. Now you have to buy it from me.
PHIL: What? No way, forget it, I’m not buying it. [hands it back]
JOE: OK, I’ll have to go sell it to Jill, then. She really wanted it, but I told her you’d want it more.
PHIL: OK, how much.
JOE: Ummm… ten bucks.
PHIL: [sighs, pulls out a small wad of cash from his pocket, counting it] Uh…I got…8 dollars…9 dollars and sixty…two cents. Nine sixty two.
JOE: [pauses, then holds out his hand] Done. You can pay me the rest when you get it.
PHIL: Dude, you’re seriously gonna squeeze me for the last 38 cents?
JOE: Business is business.
PHIL: Whatever. Now beat it. I don’t want you hanging around here when Charlene shows up.
JOE: [turns to leave] See ya. Here she comes… [giggles, exits.]
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[PHIL stands up in fright, then sits down again fast. Enter CHARLENE, PHIL stands up again as she approaches.]
PHIL: Hey, uh…. Hey, Charlene.
CHARLENE: Oh. Hi, Phil. [Keeps walking]
PHIL: Hey, wait, can I… [CHARLENE stops and turns, looking at Phil. He stammers] Um… hey, can I talk to you for a minute? You busy?
CHARLENE: [tentatively sits down on bench] OK. What’s up?
PHIL: Hi. Um… I was just…I just wanted to, you know, say hi. See how you’re doing. How’s life, you know, that sort of thing… [Sits down again, plenty of distance between them]
CHARLENE: Well, life is good. I’m doing fine. Hello. You want to know how school is going, too?
PHIL: [Laughs nervously and loudly] No, no, that’s ok. School’s lame, right?
CHARLENE: Actually, it’s going to be all A’s again this semester.
PHIL: Uh… well, you’re right. That’s not lame.
CHARLENE: [stands up] Anything else, Phil?
PHIL: [Stands up quickly, still clutching the cross. Sees it.] Yeah. Um.. Hey, look. Here. I bought you this. You know, a gift. [hands her the cross] I saw it and I thought of you!
CHARLENE: [takes cross, slowly sits back down, looking at it, wincing] It’s so… heavy. Thank you, Phil.
PHIL: [all smiles] You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.
CHARLENE: This made you think of me?
PHIL: Well, you know… that, um…that heavenly smile of yours…
CHARLENE: I see. [sets it down, casually wipes hands off] Well, what a nice thing to say. Whoops, that’s me buzzing. [reaches in her purse, pulls out her cell phone] Hello? Hi! [To PHIL] Sorry, I have to take this. [Wanders off, chatting.]
[PHIL watches her wander away, smiling, then stands up and wanders after her. The cross sits on the bench. A song plays as people wander in and out of the set, passing the cross, where it sits, unnoticed. ]
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[Enter BRAD, drunk, stumbling, talking to himself.]
BRAD: Never! Never again! I can’t believe I fell for it again! Why do I keep letting her do it to me? Why! Well, that’s the last time…and I mean it this time! We’re done. She’s going to regret it this time. She’s going to call me and sweet talk me again, but forget it. I’m gonna tell her, no way, lady! You blew it! You drove me away for the last time! Go find someone else to jerk around. It’s not going to be me anymore! I don’t care that your dad is my boss! Oh, go ahead! Have him fire me, I don’t care! I don’t like my job anyway! I don’t like my job, I don’t like your dad, and I don’t like you!
[BRAD breaks off, begins to sob. He sits down, knocking the cross on the ground, not noticing. He mumbles and growls, and falls off the bench and on to the ground. That’s where he discovers the cross.]
BRAD: What have we here. [He grabs it and looks at it while lying on his back] A cross. Lovely. [slips out of his hands and drops on his chest.] Ow! Criminy! Now God mocks me too. Here I am, at the bottom. I’m done for. I can’t get any lower. And God decides to kick me while I’m down too. [Staggers to his feet, holding the cross] Well, you know what? I don’t need you, either! I used to pray! You don’t answer any more! Why won’t you help me? Awww, forget it!
[BRAD throws the cross into a nearby trash can, then stumbles off. Enter BAGLADY from opposite side, humming, holding a satchel. She’s chatting to herself as she approaches and begins rooting through the trash can.]
BAGLADY: [singing] It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Could you be mine, would you be mine, won’t you be my neighbor? [stops singing. Says the following lines in alternating different voices]
OK, I will!
You will what?
I’ll be your neighbor!
You will?
Yes!
How lovely. Nice to meet you, neighbor, what’s your name?
Call me Penelope.
Penelope? What a lovely name!
Thank you, I’m named after my great aunt.
Really? And what was her name?
Her name was Gladys.
How nice!
[She lifts out the cross and holds it up, looking at it]
My, what a lovely cross! I’ve noticed that you find Jesus in the strangest of places these days. Well, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I know a good home for you. Some place where people will treat you right. It’s a church! It’s not far from here. Let’s go show you your new home, Mr. Cross.
[Puts the cross in her satchel, and wanders off, talking]
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition… [trails off]
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[BETTY, and MISSY are rooting through a box of costumes center stage]
BETTY: [Takes out a piece of head gear, tries it on] What do you think?
MISSY: Hmm, here, lemme see it. [Holds it up] I don’t know. I guess we can make it work.
BETTY: We’re gonna have to. We don’t exactly have the budget to buy new costumes.
MISSY: I know, I know. Don’t remind me.
BETTY: I’m gonna miss this place.
MISSY: Me too.
BETTY: There’s really nothing we can do to keep the church doors open?
MISSY: Well, barring a miracle from God, this is our last Christmas here. Doors close January first.
BETTY: Grrr. It’s so hard not to be bitter about it.
MISSY: Let it go, dear.
BETTY: Come on! They cause a split, take half the people and leave us here to try and carry on with next to no one left, and no funds!
MISSY: Well, God let it happen for a reason.
BETTY: You mean, He wanted the church shut down?
MISSY: God keeps His own counsel. I hate to sound like a bumper sticker, Betty, but His ways are above our ways. There’s still time for a miracle.
BETTY: Or He could want us shut down and scattered.
MISSY: Maybe so.
BETTY: It just doesn’t seem fair.
MISSY: Well, we still have to do what’s in front of us, and that’s put on the nativity play. So let’s focus on scrounging up enough costumes from what’s left here. [Begin looking in box again]
BETTY: You know, there are going to be more people in the play than watching it, right?
MISSY: [They share a chuckle] True, true. Well, we’re supposed to be performing for God anyway, right?
BETTY: Yep. [Grabs another item, looks at it, sighs and lets it drop] This is hopeless.
MISSY: It’s never hopeless.
[Enter DANNY, carrying paper tray with three cups of coffee]
DANNY: Hello, ladies. Brought you some coffee.
MISSY: Hey, how nice!
BETTY: Thank you, Daniel. [Coffee is passed out and sipped]
DANNY: No problem. So how goes it?
MISSY: Slow, but steady. We have enough for Mary and Joseph. We’ll need a Baby Jesus doll, but we have his swaddling clothes here.
BETTY: We have enough for only 2 shepherds. The angel wings are gone. We still have the halo, though. [puts on the halo headpiece, chuckles all around] No animals left. My niece has a toy stuffed sheep, but it’s kinda small. And our wisemen may have to be in street clothes.
DANNY: Hmm. Well, I can take a tour of the second-hand shops again. You never know what you’ll find there. I could luck out.
MISSY: What about the wisemen’s gifts?
BETTY: Nothing yet. We can probably fake it with the frankincense and the myrrh. No one knows what they looked like anyway, so well just grab some spices from my aunt’s kitchen and put them in a little jar.
MISSY: But no gold?
BETTY: Nope.
DANNY: Hey, hang on a second. I’ll be right back. [exits]
MISSY: [smiling] Must have forgot the creamer for his coffee.
[BETTY hums an indistinct tune, they both dig through the box. DANNY enters again, carrying the gold cross]
DANNY: How about this? [hands the cross to MISSY] Some crazy lady donated it to the church this morning.
MISSY: Cool.
DANNY: Well, will it work?
MISSY: Work for what?
DANNY: For the wisemen. You know, as gold.
MISSY: It’s a cross.
DANNY: So?
MISSY: So this is a Christmas play, not an Easter play.
BETTY: But it is gold. Here, let me see it. [takes cross] Wow, it’s so heavy.
MISSY: You can’t have the wisemen give Baby Jesus a gold cross.
DANNY: Why not? It’s not like crosses were invented at Calvary. They’d been around a long time.
MISSY: It’s just odd! I mean, mention Christmas, and you don’t think of the cross! That’s another part of the story!
BETTY: Well, maybe the wisemen knew prophetically what Jesus would have to go through.
MISSY: Come on, Betty! You’re saying the wisemen would have given Jesus a gold cross to show Him that He’d have to die?
BETTY: I don’t know, Missy. All I know is that we need a gold prop and this is our only choice so far. Can we clean it up some? It’s kinda grungy.
DANNY: Yeah, I know a guy. He owes me a favor. I can have him take a look at it and clean it up for me.
BETTY: [Hands it back] Sweet. Well, that settles that, then.
MISSY: We’re really going to have the wisemen give Baby Jesus a gold cross?
DANNY: Oh, it’s no big deal. It’s just us anyway.
BETTY: What’s left of us, you mean.
DANNY: Well, who knows what God has planned for us? There’s always time for a miracle.
MISSY: Hey, that’s what I said!
DANNY: Great minds, Missy. Great minds. See ya.
MISSY: Bye, Danny.
BETTY: Bye. [Holds up another costume element] This is going to be one sorry little Nativity play.
[lights fade. In the dark, while a quick, crude manger set is set up, a NARRATOR’s voice speak.]
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NARRATOR: After the wisemen had heard King Herod, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
[Lights up, Nativity play is in progress. JOSEPH and MARY are center, in makeshift manger, holding BABY JESUS doll. An ANGEL is nearby. Two SHEPHERDS are standing. Enter WISEMEN, bringing gifts. When the gifts are presented, MARY takes each one, and nods and acknowledges the wisemen. When the gold cross is offered, MARY slowly holds it up, looking at it. She exchanges a look with JOSEPH.]
NARRATOR: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
[Fade lights and music]
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[As the lights are out, JERRY’s voice can be heard, one side of a phone conversation.]
JERRY: Danny? It’s Jerry. Good, glad I caught you. Sorry to call you so late. I have some interesting news for you. You know that cross I cleaned for you? Yeah, the one for your play, right. Well—what? [pause] The play went well? Good, good, glad to hear it. Listen, I—what? Yeah, look, I know. You’re welcome. Listen, while I was cleaning that cross, I took some pictures of it and emailed them to a friend of mine. You’re not going to believe this…
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[Lights up, JOHN is sitting down, reading a newspaper, JANE enters with a bag of groceries.]
JOHN: Jane, listen to this. Turns out some local church had some priceless medieval relic donated to them anonymously. Says they used it in their Christmas play as a prop this year without even knowing what it was.
JANE: Seriously? What kind of relic?
JOHN: A gold cross. Seriously! I mean, come on! How could you have a priceless antique like that right in front of you and not know it?
JANE: What are they going to do with it?
JOHN: Oh, they sold it. The Smithsonian bought it. Says the sale not only gave them enough money to keep their church from shutting down, but now they can fund their “outreach” programs again, for local youth, for the homeless, a 12 step program, and missionary work, etc. You know, the whole 9 yards.
JANE: So the cross is going to be in a museum then, eh?
JOHN: Yup, on display, so the world can see it. I still think you gotta be pretty dumb to not recognize something that’s priceless when it’s in your hand.
JANE: Do they have a picture of it?
JOHN: Yup, right here.
[They look at it together]
JOHN: Nice, eh? Wish I had something like that.
JANE: Looks familiar, doesn’t it?
JOHN: [Turns the paper a bit, squints.] Nah. All crosses look alike to me.
JANE: Oh, well. Nice for them, I suppose. Hungry?
JOHN: Sure, what’s for supper tonight?
JANE: Spaghetti.
JOHN: Excellent.
[Fade lights. END]