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AND GOD PLANTED A GARDEN
Script older children, Drama Workshop, Garden of Eden Rotation. Adapted from the NRSV. © 2004 LD McKenzie
Cast:
Narrator, God, Adam, Eve, Serpent, Angel
Props:
Stuffed animals, apple.
Narrator:
Our story starts long ago, in a time when there weren't many stories. That's because there weren't any humans yet. And there
wouldn't have been much for any humans to do anyway because God hadn't quite finished making the earth.
God started with the heavens and the earth.
There were no green plants yet because there hadn’t been any rain. And like I said, there was no one to break up the
soil and plant the seeds and do the work that goes into helping plants grow.
There was this little spring, though, that watered the face of the earth, plantless as it was.
From this bit of dirt, God formed the first human, whose name was Adam.
And God planted a garden in Eden in the east. And he put Adam there.
Then from the ground, God make all kinds of trees grow — ones that are beautiful and ones that have good food to eat.
In the very middle of the garden were two special trees. The tree of life. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
A river flowed out of Eden and watered the garden.
Then God said to Adam:
God:
Go ahead and eat from any tree in the garden. All except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I'm sorry, but if you eat
from that one, you will in fact die.
Adam:
Oh wow. That's heavy.
God (to self):
Gee whiz. Our man Adam is going to be pretty lonely. He's going to need a friend. Somebody he can talk to. Somebody who can
help him look after the garden for me.
Narr:
So out of this magical ground, God made all the animals of the fields, and birds of the air. God brought them all to Adam
to see what he would call them. But none of the new creatures promised to be much of a partner for Adam.
So God made Adam fall into a deep sleep. While he was sleeping, God took one of Adam's ribs, healed him over, and went on
to make one of the crowning achievements of creation — a woman.
When God introduced her to Adam, Adam said
Adam:
She's really special. She's just like me. I can tell we're going to be best friends forever!
Narr:
So Adam and the woman, whose name was Eve, began the work of looking after the animals and the garden. In their birthday suits,
since in fact it was their birthday! But that didn’t bother them because they didn't know any other way.
However, another of God's clever creatures -- the serpent -- took a bold step and spoke to Eve.
Serpent:
I hear you guys have been told you can't eat the fruit from all the trees.
Eve:
Oh yeah, we can. Just not the tree in the middle of the garden. God said we can't touch that one or we'll die.
Serp:
Oh, that is so silly. You're not going to die. All that means is God knows that when you eat from that tree, your eyes will
be opened. That means you'll get smarter, and knowing about good and evil will make you more like God. What can be wrong with
that?
Eve:
Well, you've got a point. The apples on that tree look really yummy. It's an awful pretty tree. And being smart sounds pretty
good too. You're right. I'll do it!
[Crunch]. Hey, you know, that's not too bad. Adam really ought to try this too. Adam, come over here and check this out.
Adam:
What is it?
Eve:
It's an apple from the special tree. It's really tasty and it'll make you smarter.
Adam:
Well. I don’t know.
Eve:
Come on. The snake told me it would be okay. And I don't want to be smart all by myself. Just give it a try.
Adam:
Okay. Just for you. [Crunch.]
Eve. We've got no clothes on.
Both:
Aaaahhhhh!!!!!!
Eve (grabbing some leaves):
Here. Cover up. Use these.
Adam:
What's that sound. Oh no. Big footsteps. God's out for the evening stroll. Let's hide.
God:
Hey Adam. Hey Eve. Where are you guys?
Adam:
Over here. I heard you in the garden and I don't have any clothes on. So I hid.
God (not happy):
Who told you that you don't have any clothes on? What do you know about clothes? Have you eaten from that tree I told you
not to?
Adam:
It was kind of Eve's idea.
God:
Aww. Gee whiz. Eve. Look what you've done.
Eve:
Darn. I went and listened to the serpent. He said it would be okay.
God:
Okay, guys, listen up. Sorry to have to tell you this, but I need to make some changes around here. Mainly, you're all going
to have to leave.
All creatures:
What??!!
God:
I'm sorry. That's just the way it's going to have to be. Life will be a little rougher for you than this gardening gig would
have been. But I'll always be with you. Angel — the gate.
[Angel with sword on fire goes to garden gate, crosses arms, and starts guard duty there.]
Narr:
So arm in arm, Eve and Adam left the garden. And God went with them.
-end-
AND GOD PLANTED A GARDEN
Script for younger children, Drama Workshop, Garden of Eden Rotation. Adapted from the NRSV. © 2004 LD McKenzie
Cast:
Narrator, God, Adam, Eve, Serpent
Props:
Stuffed animals, apple.
Narrator:
Our story starts long ago, when God first made with the heavens and the earth.
There were no green plants yet because there hadn’t been any rain. There were no people yet dig up the soil and plant
the seeds and do the work that goes into helping plants grow.
From the soil of the ground, God formed the first human, whose name was Adam.
And God planted a garden in Eden in the east. He put Adam there.
Then from the ground, God make all kinds of trees grow — ones that are beautiful and ones like apple trees that have
good food to eat.
In the very middle of the garden were two special trees. The tree of life. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
A river flowed out of Eden and watered the garden.
Then God said to Adam,
"Go ahead and eat from any tree in the garden. All except the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
God knew Adam would be pretty lonely. He would need a best friend. Somebody to talk to. Somebody to help him look after
the garden.
Then God made all the animals of the fields, and birds of the air. God brought them all to Adam to see what he would call
them. But none of the new creatures seemed to be the right kind of friend for Adam.
So God made Adam fall into a deep sleep. While he was sleeping, God made a lifelong buddy for Adam, a woman called Eve.
Then Adam and Eve began the work of looking after the animals and the garden.
Everything went along just fine. Until the serpent talked to Eve.
The serpent told her she had nothing to fear. Everything would actually be all right if she ate one of the apples she'd be
told not to touch.
Eve was a good person who believed things others told her. She believed the serpent. So she ate one of the apples from the
tree of knowledge of good and evil. And she convinced Adam to eat one too.
That was when they figured out there weren't wearing any clothes! (Which was actually okay in those ancient olden days.)
But they got embarrassed and scared and hid from God.
Then God came to the garden for a visit. God wasn't real thrilled that they did what they'd been asked not to, and ate the
apples that they shouldn’t have.
God was pretty sad. But God had to tell them they couldn't live in the garden any more.
So together Adam and Eve left the beautiful Garden of Eden and went to a new home. And God stayed with them.
-the end-
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