Desert Island
Author: Josue Feliciano
Major Theme: Calling the Lost to follow Jesus
Source: The Rich Young Ruler, the Prodigal Son, and the Thief on the Cross
Main Cast: 1 Female, 4 Male, two gender-neutral
Rich, Doris, Thomas, and Jack are out for a spin on Rich’s new boat when out of nowhere, the boat malfunctions, crashing into the shore. The group are trapped, and Thomas is badly injured. Doris trusts God and turns to him time and time again, while Rich is cynical about religion and makes fun of her for her faith. Jack, caught in the middle and worried about Thomas, is pulled back and forth between faith and skepticism time and time again.
Thomas is taken by a strange man who seems to live on the island. Then, a new person washes up on the beach, complicating the group’s dynamic. A storm forces the motley band to work together. And just when things are hardest, Jack is struck on the head, and the audience are catapulted into his inner struggle where he meets Michael and Lucian, the light and the dark. He chooses Michael and the light.
Things start to settle. Jack’s interest in the Bible grows. As he listens to Doris tell stories about the rich young ruler and the prodigal son, the audience is shown the parallels between the characters in the Biblical stories and those on the island. The group escape the island, led by the man who took Thomas in the first place. It turns out they’ve been on a peninsula the whole time, free to be lost no more, but too narrow-sighted to know it.
On Friday, Jack is back in his own life, back to his old struggles, and the world of the island is far away. His inner struggle between Michael and Lucian reappears, and the audience learns his Biblical parallel–the thief on the cross. Their stories align, closer and closer, until Jack is shown by the thief how ready God is to forgive, to welcome a sinner into salvation. Jack turns to Michael and chooses to be lost no more.
