Yesterday my mother asked me to help her with a skit for her Sunday School kids. Her theme was “The Potter & the Clay”, and the first thing that came to my mind was the famous story of the teacup written by an anonymous author. So I quickly converted it into a short skit, and here it is… I thought it might be of use to someone somewhere.
THE TEACUP SKIT
- Janie S G
Characters:
Thomas – Husband
Martha – Wife
Store Owner
Tea Cup (Also the Narrator)
Clay
Master (Potter)
Props:
2 Identical teacups or paper cut outs of teacups
Other crockery props on a shelf
Clay or paper cut out of clay
A Wheel
Half done clay teacup or paper cut out of clay teacup
Iron rod/Stick
Paints
Big paintbrush
Mirror
Split Stage:
Left – Crockery Store
Right – Potter’s House
Location: Crockery Store
(Thomas & Martha enter the shop.)
Store Owner: Good morning Sir. Good morning Madam. How may I help you?
Thomas: Well, my wife and I are celebrating out 25th wedding anniversary today, and we would like to buy something special to celebrate. Could you please show us some good crockery…
Store Owner: Of course! (Pointing to a shelf) These are some of the best cups and saucers I have.
Martha: Oh Thomas! Look at that teacup! May we see that? We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful!
Store Owner: Here you go. (phone rings) Oh, let me attend to that call while you look at this cup.
(The store owner hands them the cup and exits.)
Teacup: You don’t understand! I have not always been a teacup.
Thomas: (shocked) A talking teacup? What do you mean teacup?
Teacup: Well, it’s a long story…
Martha: Oh, that’s alright. We’d love to hear a story from a teacup!
Teacup: Very well… You see, there was a time when I was just a lump of red clay…
(Teacup continues narrating the story on the left side of the stage, while the scene below is being acted out on the right side. Thomas & Martha can watch the enactment on the other side or listen to the narration. If use of lights is possible, dim lights on left half of stage and use focus lights on the right side to shift attention. The Master & the Clay must act out what the teacup is narrating.)
Teacup: My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over…
(Master takes the Clay, rolls it around and pats it.)
Clay: (Shouts) Don’t do that. I don’t like it! Leave me alone!
Master: (Smiles) Not yet!
Teacup: Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around.
(Master puts the Clay on a spinning wheel & turns it round and round.)
Clay: (Screaming) Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick!
Master: (Nods head) Not Yet!
Teacup: He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat.
(Master spins, pokes & prods & bends the Clay, which now looks like a clay cup. Then he takes & puts it in an oven.)
Clay: (Yelling & knocking on the door) Help! Get me out of here! I can’t bear it!
The Master: (Shakes his head) Not yet.
Teacup: When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.
(Master opens the oven door, takes the Clay out & puts it on a shelf.)
Clay: (Heaves a sigh of relief) Ah, this feels so good! I hope he’s done with me!
Teacup: But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over.
(Master picks up the Clay & starts painting it. Clay struggles.)
Clay: (Crying) This is horrible! I’m going to be sick! Oh, please! Stop it, Stop it!
The Master: Not yet!
Teacup: Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate.
(Master picks up the Clay which is now a colorful cup & puts it back in the oven and closes the door.)
Clay: (Screaming & crying) I can’t take this any more! I don’t think I’ll make it. Oh please, please! I beg you! Please let me out!
Teacup: Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited… and waited…
(Master opens the oven door, takes the Clay out and puts it on the shelf.)
Clay: This is taking so long… I wonder what he’s going to do to me next?!?
Teacup: An hour later he handed me a mirror…
(Master holds a mirror in front of the teacup.)
The Master: Look at yourself.
Clay: (looking in the mirror) That’s not me! That couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!
The Master: I want you to remember, then… I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
(Dim lights on right half of stage, shift focus lights to left half. Master & Clay exit stage; Teacup, Thomas & Martha in focus)
Teacup: And that is how I became the beautiful teacup I am today.
Husband: Wow! That is a wonderful story teacup! You know Martha, I think hearing this story is the best gift we’ve ever had!
Wife: That’s true Thomas! It reminded me that God is the potter & we are His clay. He knows what He’s doing for each of us. He will mold us and make us, and expose us to just the right pressure, so that we can be made into a beautiful masterpiece one day.
Thomas: Exactly! The next time I feel like I’m being pounded, patted & pushed more than I can bear, or when my world seems to be spinning out of control, you know what I’m going to do?
Martha: What will you do, Thomas?
Thomas: Well, I’m going to ask you to make me a cup of tea in this beautiful cup, so I can remember this story and talk to my Potter, Jesus.
Martha: I think that’s a wonderful idea Thomas!
Thomas: (Loudly, to the Store Owner) Excuse me, we’ll buy this cup sir.
(Store Owner re-enters)
Store Owner: Sure. That will be 500 rupees.
(Thomas gives him the money, Store Owner accepts it, puts the teacup in a box & hands it over to Thomas & Martha.)
Store Owner: Happy Anniversary to you both! And have a good day!
Thomas & Martha: Thank you!
(Exit all & Curtain)
Just what I was looking for! You did a great job with this skit! I had tea today with my mother and heard this story. We would like to do this skit for friends of ours!