The sixth installment of the Back in Time series:
Here’s the full script as written, though it may have been modified in performance or in editing:
Phoebe [facing partly left, out to sea]: Good bye, Barnabas! Good bye, Ishmael! Have a safe journey to Thessalonika! Make sure you give our greetings to the synagogue there!
Ishmael [looking to his left]: We’re on the boat at last, Barnabas. Gee, I was scared while we were in Jerusalem. Boy oh boy, the Romans do NOT like the followers of Jesus. But — now we’re leaving Jerusalem, and nothing can go wrong!
Barnabas [looking to his right]: Well, actually, Ishmael, quite a bit could go wrong. For instance, we could get in a shipwreck, which would mean we’d probably drown.
Ishmael: Shipwreck!
Barnabas: Or pirates could capture our ship, that would be bad.
Ishmael: Pirates!
Barnabas: Cause if pirates capture us, they’d sell us into slavery.
Ishmael: Slavery!
Barnabas: Yep, there’s a lot that could wrong on a boat. But hey, if we’d’ve stayed home, the Romans probably would have arrested us. So on the whole, it’s better to be on a boat.
Phoebe [facing partly left, out to sea]: Good bye, Thecla and Priscilla! Have a safe journey to Rome! Don’t forget to give the letter to the synagogue there!
Thecla: Here we are, Priscilla, on the boat, traveling to Rome. I have the letter that I’m supposed to give to the leaders of the synagogue, telling about our work. Are you sad that you’re leaving your friends behind?
Priscilla: Yes, I’m sad. But we’re trying to make the world a better place. So I don’t mind.
Thecla: Yes, I think we WILL make the world a better place. We can show others that if we treat each other the way we’d like to be treated, the world will be a better place. We can show others that if we share what we have, there is enough for everyone, and no one needs to be poor or hungry.
Phoebe [facing partly left, out to sea]: Good bye! Good bye! And soon it will be my turn to leave Jerusalem on a boat.
Ishmael: You know, Barnabas, I was just thinking. They say that Jesus…
Barnabas: Ishmael, I know you’re all excited about all the things you’ve heard about Jesus. You’re my friend, and I try to listen to all the miracles and things. But honestly, I don’t care about miracles — I just want to make the world a better place.
Ishmael: Well, gee, I want to make the world better, too. I just like thinking about miracles.
Barnabas: You go ahead and think about miracles. But the real miracle would be if we could end hunger and poverty, and have people treat each other with kindness and compassion.
Narrator: That’s the end of this chapter in the life of Barnabas and Ishmael! Someday we’ll get back to them! But next week, we’ll start a new adventure — as ordinary people try to fight the greatest super-villain of all time: TRASHMAN!
British police box image: CC BY SA 2.0 Immanuel Burton