Festive Note - Nativity Plays

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

June:

>Nativity Plays. As a parent, I feel they often provided some of the
>funnier experiences when my daughter was younger and I like to hear
>any amusing recollections other people have. Here's some of mine:
>
>1. PC. Yes, indeedy. Though the Christmas Nativity play is rooted
>in the Judeo-Christian tradition, often schools jump through
>ecumenical and pantheist hoops to engage all the children in the
>school and I've seen some very funny attempts to "include" Islamic
>and Hindu children here.

Well, none of that in our school, but that would because it's ethnically and 
culturally not very diverse and pays lip service to Christianity. 

Our school's tended to alternate between nativities and Christmas shows (with 
each younger year having a go at each at least once) although I've noticed 
that there's been a tendency recently to move away from straight nativity plays 
and to put on something less religious that somehow manages to incorporate a 
nativity tableau or some reference to the true meaning of Christmas.

The very worst thing (up to last year when our new school hall gave us an 
excuse to move the event) used to be that the pre-prep (that's the rising 5s to 7 
year olds) had to do their Christmas carol service in the local parish church 
(that is local to the school, not my local parish). I don't know the vicar of 
that parish personally; he may be a very nice man, for all I know, but as 
parents we all used to dread it. 

I don't think I have ever once seen him smile at the children or the 
congregation; he's one of those people with a naturally forbidding expression. He 
started every carol service with a stern reminder that this was not a concert and 
that photographs were inappropriate and an attitude that seemed to say we were 
all uniformly just the proud parents from the posh school down the road (it's 
fee-paying, but far from posh) come to see their little darlings. He seemed 
to have no recognition that amongst us, too, were likely to be people for whom 
this event actually meant something more.

Well do I remember the occasion on which a grandfather, who had come in late 
and missed the admonition was foolhardy enough to stand up to take a picture. 
Dear Severus himself couldn't have swept down the aisle with more menace to 
deal with the miscreant at the end of the service.

Thing is, during the service, the older children didn't exactly do a play, 
but as the nativity story unfolded, they gradually formed a tableau of the 
scene. But the taking of photos even *after* the service had finished was frowned 
upon.

It still makes me mad. I was strongly associated with the church at the time 
and felt tarred by the unwelcoming attitude of this man of the cloth. 


>2. Everyone must have a part. This is one of my favourite
>aspects. Schools don't like competitiveness anymore. In my day, it
>was a capsule play with simply the best actors picked for the key
>parts, lesser actors got to be the donkey's back end, and the rest
>formed the choir. Now everyone has to be in it, and noticeable by
>their loving parents. In the last one I attended there was a
>fantastic musical number performed by a troup of dancing Christmas
>puddings - though I have to say, had anyone attempted to cast MY
>daughter as a dancing Christmas pudding - we would have been
>having "words" afterwards. A recent example I heard of included
>dancing lobsters. Now where on earth did that idea come from?

Alice, I should think. The Lobster Quadrille.

But yes, all have parts. That's essential. But even with all the extra 
characters that seem to be part of events now, there are still parts and *parts*.  
The children may be  unaware of it, but the parents aren't! There's still that 
unspoken warm glow of pride when your daughter is chosen to be Mary, even 
though her role seems to be played down somewhat in the productions I've seen 
recently (and that's not a theological point!)

I've had two Marys. My youngest was Mary last year. She looked perfect. 
Except that she was *completely* disengaged from the action, ignored baby Jesus 
totally (the fact that she'd been positioned bizarrely *in front of* the manger 
didn't help!) and spent most of the time looking behind her at the action, or 
engrossed in conversation with the shepherd "boy" who was the star of this 
particular production.

<>

>Right - lets get it clear I'm not sneering. I watched everyone of
>them laughing and crying at the same time and wouldn't have missed
>any of them for the world. Dancing Christmas puddings included.

I agree. They were a highlight of the year and I'm sorry that they're over 
for me now.

What haven't we mentioned?

There's always the child with the very loud and often tuneless voice who you 
can hear above everbody else. There's the child who inevitably gets overcome 
by the whole occasion and has to be removed, sobbing from the stage or else 
shows off appallingly. Robins and snowmen with cushions pushed up their jumpers 
(as in sweaters) that inevitably start to slip and have constantly to be hoiked 
surreptitiously (or not!) back up into place. There's always at least one 
child wearing their tights (that's panty hose) back to front (usually a boy).

At various times my four children have been a shepherd, a king, a Christmas 
cracker (do you guys have those in the US?), a piece of tinsel, a snowflake, a 
reindeer, a star, the inevitable angels. The tinsel song brought the house 
down ("Oh won't you wrap me round the Chrismas tree?/ Oh won't you wrap me round 
(I love to shimmy, shimmy....)

This year I don't have to make a costume. ;-(

I think my all time favourite must have been the one when my third child was 
playing the angel. At one point she noticed that Mary's head-dress had fallen 
off and she then proceeded to spend about half the play doggedly but 
ineffectually trying to replace it. Gradually, more and more of the audience started to 
notice this little sub-plot developing and the whole hall was overcome by 
suppressed giggles. It assured her of a much bigger part than her role warranted 
in the official school video, anyway. 

But we're still not allowed to mention it.

Shhh!

~Eloise

Who actually becomes more Scrooge-like by the year and can't *stand* 
Christmas starting this early, but is a sucker for a nativity play.



    
    



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