The Survivors: Overview

Actors: 1-4
Reference: Ephesians
Notes: We broke new ground as a troupe with the Survivors series, first of all in terms of scope. Currently were at 5 skits in the series, with at least that many more planned. Additionally, the plot is interwoven with a parallel series of skits about an army. Eventually the Search and Rescue company of the army will run head on into the Survivors with predictable results. Finally, having recently obtained a LCD projector capable of projecting video, we got really creative with a cam-corder and mimicked the Survivor show format with video-taped asides and interviews from the cast.
If your church does not have the equipment necessary, it is possible to do many of the asides in film noir style with the actors stepping away from the group and addressing the camera as it were.
Please also note that the skits do build on each other, and need to be presented in order. Only the first skit is a good stand-alone candidate.

Synopsis

When we first saw and heard about the Survivor TV show, we immediately felt it was tailor-made for a series of skits demonstrating the antithesis of everything were supposed to strive for in the Christian life. So, when our pastor planned a series in Ephesians, we jumped in with this series of skits.
Two tribes of survivors, the Ghosts and the Zombies, are stranded on the island. Life is predictably difficult nothing but rats to eat, brutal competitions to try and win, and fragile alliances to form, with back-stabbing a constant reality. There are, however, a few key differences from the TV show: The Survivors equate getting voted off with death, and no one is too certain about the existence of a prize for the last man standing. In other words, this is a metaphor for life, not a game show we just left the camera crews in there for fun. ?
A few more Allegorical symbols we threw in:
The Director: The Devil. He calls all the shots, tells everyone when to compete, when to provide the dirt on their tribe-mates and most horribly when to turn against them all together and vote them off the island.
Dead People: What Jesus calls the survivors
The Ghost Tribe: The Jews the people to whom Jesus initially came
The Zombie Tribe: The Gentiles, to whom Jesus re-appears in later skits after having voluntarily left the island
Rats, Pits, Competitions, and all other manner of obstacles: The result of sin the nastiness and horror we all go through on a daily basis as we try to survive our lives before being saved.

Skit One: The Ghosts team votes Jesus off the island.

Skit Two: The Zombie team attempts to build escape rafts; Grace meets Jesus who has mysteriously resurfaced.

Skit Three: Floyd gets lost in the woods

Skit Four: Grace and Jesus have Rat Mediterranean for lunch

Skit Five: The Zombies have a knock-down-drag-out at Floyds place; The Army watches the tape Grace smuggled out