Puckett Publishing

Tabernacle

12 Men, 3 Women, 2 teenage boys, 4 teenage girls, 5-6 small children (ages 7-10). Choir/congregation, other youth.
2 Acts, 103 pages
20 songs

Tabernacle is set in an old time, Southern camp meeting, the Holy Rock of Ages Camp Meeting. The HROACM has come on hard times, with attendance on a steep decline. The new president of the association (a used car salesman) wants to shake things up. He hires a disgraced televangelist as the new featured preacher, even though he has just been released from prison ("I canget him cheap!"). He brings in a gangof street kids from Birmingham to boost the youth program. The resulting clash of cultures is the basis of much humor, which is combined with great songs and ultimately presenting a story of redemption. The idea for Tabernacle came partly from my childhood experience. My grandparents took me to the Hartselle Camp Meeting every summer, and my grandfather was the President of the Association. The characters John David and Germaine are certainly inspired by them. But camp meetings are all going the way of old things, and I thought it would be a great situation to have new meet old, hypocrite meet sincere, and see what happened.

Cast Of Characters

• Carlton Chapell. 30-40. Energetic and charismatic evangelist and ex-con. More interested in the theatre and the pomp and power he commands than the message he purports to tell.
• Pearl Sweeney. 25-35. Carlton's Musical Evangelist. Pretty, sexy, completed devoted to Chapell. Has a strong moral sense.
• Brother Carruthers. 22-35. Carlton's Youth Director. Handsome, but a snake inside. Manipulative, duplicitous, amoral.
• John David Sommers. 50-55. An Elder, and longtime HROACM president. His family built the Tabernacle, and he considers himself its steward. Maybe a little too strongly.
• Germaine Sommers. 45-50. His wife, and former Youth Director, but relegated to assistant in the wake of Chapell's invasion. When we first meet her, she is a bit nervous, but she quickly reverts to her natural posture: defensive of her family and her place.
• Buddy Townsend. 30-45. Used car dealer and elder of the HROACM. A shallow buffoon, but not a bad fellow. He has had a feud going with John David for ten years now.
• Silas Parnell. 60-75. Aged evangelist of the old school, but no longer sure of himself and his preaching. Somewhat waiting to retire, but can't seem to give it up just yet.
• Milburne Thorndike. 14-16. Nephew to Germaine. A bit on the shy side, but possessing a streak of satire.
• Althea Hollister. 14-16. Lost and Found Youth Camper who is mute. Sweetness incarnate, she carries scars from a painful life.
• Katrina Knutsen. 20-25. Missionary to Birmingham. She has a sharp Minnesotan accent. Well-meaning, but definitely out of her element in Cedarville.
• Ernie Lincoln. 40-60. HROACM Elder and treasurer. Eccentric and somewhat scatter-brained.
• Hammah Henry. 16-18. Older teenage girl, Lost and Found Youth Camper, a tough kid who is the Leader of the Pack. She has, however, the proverbial heart of gold.
• Molly Beasley. 16-18. Older teenage girl Lost and Found Youth Camper. The flirtatious one, looking for the boys.
• Leroy Jones. 16-18. Lost and Found Youth Camper, Hammah's lieutenant. Obedient to Hammah, but has attitude as well.
• Matthew Tanner. 30-60: HROACM Elder.
• Joe Hargrave. 30-60: HROACM Elder.
• Sooze Castle. 14-18. Lost and Found Youth Camper.
• Dabney Channing. 8-12. HROACM kid.
• Morgan Preston. 8-12. HROACM kid
• Paul McCormack (Man On Crutches). 25-40.
• Warden (of the State Prison). 35-50
• Other Lost and Found and HROACM Youth. Younger kids and teenagers

Musical Numbers

“Freedom Road”
"I Am Empty"
“Just Trust Me”
"I Am Empty (Reprise)"
"Moses and Miriam”
“Is That a Cross Up On That Hill?”
“Got It From the Street”
“Master, Where Do You Dwell?”
“Don’t Hide Your Talent”
"No Time To Wait On Heaven"
“All My Life”
“Faith”
“He’s Got the Touch”
“Peter Wrote It On the Rock"
“Peter Wrote It On the Rock (Rock Reprise)”
“God’s Been Good To Me”
"Light Inside Of Me"
“Shout About My Lord”
“Don’t Look In Here”
“Upon This Rock”

Running Time: 2 hours 10 minutes, plus an intermissionSet. The vast majority of the action takes place in Holy Rock Of Ages Tabernacle, with the podium (actually a huge rock), choir benches, rocking chairs. A few scenes take place in the Office, which can be as simple as a couple of flats brought in. The opening scene takes place in front of the gates of the State Prison, which can be constructed however the production designer sees fit.