Restoration Reform

A powerful 15-minute stage drama from DramaShare Ministries

Theme: The Historical Role of Martin Luther
Step into the turbulent heart of the Reformation with Restoration Reform©, a compelling 3-person drama set in the pivotal year 1525. As Martin Luther prepares to wed Katharina von Bora and bid farewell to his aging friend Friedrich the Wise, he also confronts the fiery backlash from Rome over his call for reform. With humor, heart, and historic resonance, this play captures the private moments behind the public movement that forever changed the Christian world.

Cast:

• Martin Luther – early 40s, bold reformer and man of conviction
• Katharina von Bora – mid-20s, intelligent, spirited, and devoted
• Friedrich the Wise – early 60s, Luther’s protector, wise and warm

Details:

• Setting: No set required
• Costumes: Period attire from 1525
• Props: Table, 3 chairs, teapot & cups, cane for Friedrich
• Lighting & Sound: Standard
• Length: 15 minutes

Perfect for: Reformation Sunday, history-themed church events, educational showcases, and dramatic readings.

Sample of Script: Restoration Reform©

Luther and Friedrich are sitting at the table, talking.

LUTHER:
Reform. Reorganization. Restructuring. Renewal. Promises from Rome! Words. Only words. Rome talks but does nothing!

FRIEDRICH:
Now, now, Martin, calm yourself! It is not good for the heart or mind to carry on so! Trust me, I know these things, my health is not well, and, having now achieved my sixty-second birthday, I can warn you young pups to take better care of your health than did I.

LUTHER, laughing:
Young pup am I? Dear Friedrich the Wise of Saxon! You know very well that I am exactly but twenty seasons younger than yourself.

FRIEDRICH:
Oh what I would give to be forty-two again, to be as you, Martin Luther, with my whole life still ahead of me.

LUTHER:
Do not be too sure on that matter, friend Friedrich! With the attitude of the Emperor and of Rome itself, my longevity is hardly assured.

Katharina comes on stage carrying a teapot, winces at Luther’s words.

KATHARINA:
Please don’t speak so frivolously of such things Martin.

LUTHER:
My apologies, Katharina, but you of all people are aware that the church would do anything to silence me, to have me burned at the stake as a heretic.

KATHARINA:
Fine, so it is, but must you talk about death in such a cavalier manner? You know full well of my feelings for you.

LUTHER:
Dear, dear Katharina! As you know, I have found husbands for all of the other nuns who have left the convent; I could have found a worthy husband for you as well.

KATHARINA:
Stop speaking of me as one who needs assistance to find a man. I have found the man who will be my husband, and if he cares not marry me then I shall die a spinster . . (looks at Luther and smiles) . . or perhaps I might simply return to the monastery, I am sure that the nuns would welcome my return.

FRIEDRICH, chuckling:
Dear sweet Katharina von Bora! You, a former nun, presently one of the most beautiful young ladies I have known, and headstrong as well! I hardly think there is chance that you shall ever again be a nun. And if my good friend Martin Luther here has any brains in that learned head of his he will, here and now, be down on his knee to you, begging you to be his bride!

KATHARINA, smiling:
On his knee you say? Now that I would give the world to see!

FRIEDRICH:
Oh my, what is this modern world coming to? A former priest marrying a former nun! Keeping you two safe will strain the influence which I am supposed to have with Emperors and princes! You are a marked man Martin!

LUTHER:
A marked man, yes, but for a cause worthy of the shame. I find it unthinkable that we still, in the year 1525, remain slave to outmoded practices from the past. Surely Rome must know that change, reform, is long overdue. Yet it is so entrenched that no one in power wishes to upset a system that makes them rich. And those not in power have not this much, (snaps fingers), input.

FRIEDRICH:
It is not that I disagree philosophically with what you say Martin. But the wheels of progress turn slowly.

LUTHER:
Slowly indeed, and with great squeaking and squealing! My prayer is that God may use me as the lubricant to move change along at a faster and less frivolous pace.

KATHARINA:
God has used you mightily Martin! History, I just know it, will record the contribution you have made as a church reformer.

LUTHER:
The shame is that I am seen not as a reformer but as a destroyer of the church. Of all who would be church reformers, no one has wanted to destroy the Holy Roman Catholic Church less than I. But the efforts at reform have done so little. Councils have created some better laws, but laws are neither kept nor enforced. This is an enlightened age, with learning spread with the invention of the printing press, yet men have not grown wise. Erasmus, Ximenes and others have tried, but in spite of their accomplishments the face of the Church is still soiled.

FRIEDRICH:
As you well know it is my habit to form my opinions after exact consideration of the state of affairs by my advisers and listening to the opinion of recognized experts. And there is no expert more skilled and clear-minded than Erasmus von Rotterdam, he a firm believer in your position versus Rome.

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