Nativity Play for Loudoun Montgomery Primary 2014 DU

Culture Shocks! Nativity Play for Loudoun Montgomery Primary 2014 DU

Concept We are moving out of the church building in January 2015 (For about 9 months) for a major extension and refurbishment, the idea is that we are packing up to move so there are just boxes lying around on stage. Some plans for the new buildings will be on the front of the pulpit and a ladder and anything else that makes it look like building work is about to start.

The boxes have different things on their different faces so can be transformed by turning them around, as well as being stacked on top of each other to make walls or doors or a “stable”!

The whole school learns all the songs at Assemblies. And everyone sings along regardless of who is actually on stage - we need all the volume we can get!

Each class has a song or item that is their own. p7 have multiple jobs - Some dress up and help the infants with the traditional nativity items. ie 2 shepherds, 2 angels, 1 donkey.

Some are dressed as builders (reflective vests and hard hats if we can get them) and they move the boxes around between items to produce whatever backdrop/props that item needs, as well as building the jigsaw in item 5.

Two narrators - one who knows what is going on and is happy to be “on the move” and one who hates change and feels anxious when things don’t stay the same. One Middle Eastern Guest can be male or female, with suitable head gear on, who corrects some cultural “mistakes” that we have been making for years! These 3 characters guide us through the programme, linking the items and explaining that though change is inevitable in life, Christians believe that Jesus is “God with us/Emmanuel” and that can make all the difference when our lives take ups and downs. The take home gift is a copy of Luke’s Gospel titled “More than Gold” with some kind of gift wrapping.

Order of Play Song 1 (p4/3 Miss McAteer 22 children) It’s a long way to Bethlehem (DIY Nativity Mark and Helen Johnson) Whole class dressed in cloaks walk in down both aisles, while singing the song, travelling to Bethlehem. When they get to the front, the Builders have made a low wall with the boxes and they go through the door openings and continue singing, Page 2 looking out over the walls. Mary and Joseph and their p7 Donkey come last and as soon as the song ends, just as they get there, the doors get closed with boxes, everyone shakes their heads at M and J - No room - and they sit down behind the walls out of sight, leaving M and J looking sad and lost and alone.

Song 2 (p2/1 Mrs Richmond ) and (p3/2 Mrs Fisher)(44children) Out in the Fields one Starry Night (from Off to Bethlehem Mark and Helen Johnson) Usual acting out of the song, with everyone dressed in traditional nativity costumes shepherds and sheep and angels galore!

Song 3 (p5/4 Mrs Divine 23 children) Three Wise Men (from Off to Bethlehem Mark and Helen Johnson) Catchy song which lends itself to dressing as robots and doing some robot dancing!! We have plastic half-face masks in different colours and could use the black tee shirts. One standing mike in the centre of the chancel and for the spoken chorus, the 3 wise men (?modern/traditonal costumes) who are not robots, act during the verses then speak into the mike while all the robots look at them. The robots may do some stacking of the boxes to create enough space, and set things up for the next item.

Song 4 (p6/5 Ms Hodge 21 children) We’re Christmas Shopping This is a spoken poem which in the first instance the whole class will learn all of, then once everyone knows it we will introduce the movements (marching around or marching on the spot to keep time) Each child will then have one line to say into the microphone which is front and centre, and at some point during the routine, every child will pick up one of the boxes and carry it around like a present. At the end they gather around Mary and Joseph and the baby, leaving their boxes scattered on the floor all around.

“Song” 5 (p7 Ms Goudie 22 children) Picking up the pieces This involves picking up the scattered boxes and rearranging them in a wall 5 boxes by 5 boxes to reveal the picture which is on one side of the boxes. It has maps and a kind of crossword with Jesus Journey, always with us, ups and downs - it’s being recycled from a few years ago! I hope to find a suitable song to have playing on a CD while we do this. Possibly “This Baby” by Steven Curtis Chapman

Song 6 - (Everyone) Come and join the celebration Junior Praise 2 323 Bring all the infants in costume onstage with a choir of older children behind. Page 3

Link 1 Nar 1 - Good morning everyone. Welcome to our Christmas Service. “Christ -mas" means “Jesus Party” We hope you enjoy it.

Nar 2 - Hang on a minute! Look around! This place is a mess! We can’t have a party for Jesus here unless we tidy up. He’s very special we have to create a good impression. There’s all these boxes lying and ladders and stuff, what’s going on?

Nar 1 - That’s OK Jesus knows we’re in the middle of packing up to move.

Nar 2 - Move? Who’s moving? No-one told me!

Nar 1 - Relax! We’re moving out of the church building for about 9 months, but don’t worry, it’s so the builders can move in. Everything is going to be done up, and a whole new area is going to be built with a Cafe and Soft Play and lovely rooms for all sorts of people to use for their groups.

Nar 2 - But why? What’s wrong with what we’ve got?

Nar 1 - Well, there’s that bit of the ceiling that fell down, and those people down there will soon tell you that the wooden pews are NOT comfy! But mostly it’s because if we have a building that can be used for all sorts of things, it can be open every day, not just on a Sunday. We’ll be able to do much more for people of all ages in this community.

Nar 2 - (whining) But I’m used to this now. Why does everything have to change?

Nar 1 - Because Life’s a journey, ______, we always have to move on. Page 4 Nar 2 - (Deep sigh) Well I hope the Nativity Play has not changed. It starts with a Journey for Mary and Joseph, and a whole lot of other people, all heading to Bethlehem to sign up and be counted.

Song 1 (p4/3 Miss McAteer) It’s a long way to Bethlehem Starts at the back at both sides, sing and walk down both aisles the ends with everyone behind the wall except M and J and donkey.

It’s a long way to Bethlehem

It’s a dry and dusty road.

Do we really have to go?

It’s a lot for little feet.

We’ll be walking for a week!

Better get up, get off, get a move on

Better be on our way.

Hurry it up, come on, get your shoes on

We must be gone today!

Link 2 Page 5 Middle Eastern Visitor (Mev) - Un-believable!

Nar 1 - Yes! Ruben/Rachel, they were really good weren’t they!

Mev - That’s not what I meant! They’ve got it all wrong again. They’ve left Mary and Joseph outside and that would simply never happen in the middle east where I come from.

Nar 1 - But this is from the Bible! It says that there was “no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn”

Mev - Actually, the word that was used in the first language that the Bible was written in is a word for a “guest room” in a house. Not a Hotel. Somewhere down the years this has been “lost in translation” and I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve been getting it wrong! Let me explain. You don’t mind if I use these boxes do you?

Nar 1 - (a little offended) Knock yourself out

Mev - So back in Jesus’ time, most people lived in a building that was really just one big room. (builders will rearrange the boxes as he/she explains.) At one end, was the door, and the bit for bringing the animals in at night. At the other end, with a higher bit of floor, was the family space where they did everything, eating, sleeping, sitting around, working. So in between the family and the animals was just a low wall usually with a feeding trough or manger built into it so the cows or sheep didn’t have to bend down too far.

The “guest room” could be up on the roof, or off to the side, and no animals would be allowed in there.

So when the Bible says there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the “guest room”, because it was already full of other guests, what it then shows is that Mary and Joseph were welcomed in to the family room. Right in with the children and the animals, into the messy heart of their home.

Nar 1 - Wow! That is such a big change! I feel I should apologise to the people of Bethlehem. All those years we’ve been singing songs about how they didn’t welcome Mary and Joseph. But you’re saying they did welcome them! They brought Mary in and helped her even though it must have been quite a bother.

Mev - Having visitors is never a bother to us in the Middle East, hospitality is a very important duty.

Nar 1- Well thanks for putting us right on that. You had better stick around in case there are any mistakes in the next item. Page 6 Here come p2/1 and p3/2 with their version of the shepherds getting a fright!

Song 2 (p2/1 Mrs Richmond) and (p3/2 Mrs Fisher) Out in the Fields one Starry Night Usual acting out of the song with shepherds and sheep and angels galore!

1 Out in the fields on starry night Shepherds were watching their sheep Nowhere to sleep nowhere warm to lie Their only bed was the ground

2 Gathering sticks and preparing a fire They tried to keep themselves warm Suddenly there was a noise all around And they saw an angel before them saying..

Don’t be afraid for I bring you good news Of great joy to the world, Don’t be afraid for I bring you good news Of great joy to the world,

3 This day a Saviour’s been born to you Page 7 And he can be found in a manger He will be Lord over all the earth And he will be known as Jesus

Glory to God in the highest And peace on the earth to all men Glory to God in the highest And peace on the earth to all men Glory to God in the highest and peace on the earth.

Link 3 Nar 2 - If I had been a shepherd I would have died of shock! How did we do on that one Rachel/Ruben?

Mev - Now that was excellent! Shepherds out on the hills, angels appearing, surprise, fear, change, a journey! But the interesting part for me is what happened next!

Nar 2 - What do you mean?

Mev - The shepherds were told by the angels that the Saviour had been born and that they were to go and see him. The proof that they had found the right baby was that he would be lying in a manger and wrapped in strips of cloth. That told the shepherds that the Saviour would be in a house just like theirs! A poor house, where the animals were in with the family, and the baby was wrapped in cloth; not a rich house with a separate barn, where the baby had beautiful clothes.

Nar 2 - If I’d been a shepherd I wouldn’t have dared to go to a rich house in case they shouted at me and sent me away!

Mev - There’s something else. After they had seen the baby, the shepherds left again, rejoicing and telling everyone what they had seen.

Nar 2 - Why is that important? Page 8 Mev - These were Middle Eastern shepherds remember! If the shepherds had found Mary and Joseph and the Baby all alone, they would have been very upset. They would have taken them home, to one of their own houses, to be looked after properly.

Nar 2 - So that First “Jesus Celebration Party” happened in the middle of a busy family in an ordinary house in Bethlehem, with animals and poor shepherds as the guests? Mev - That’s right. Nar 2 - Jesus did get some richer visitors later… here come p6/5 with their song about the wise men and their long journey to worship the King. Song 3 (p5/4 Mrs Divine) Three Wise Men

1 Wise men… Had been looking at the stars when… They discovered a bright star and… They followed it…

2 Wise men… Were amazed at what they saw so… They decided to explore and… They followed it…

Check - that - star - mate Not - chance - not - fate God’s - comin’ - down - here Roll - dudes - gotta get near.

3 Wise men… Had to travel many days on… Their camels heavy laden… With many gifts

4 Wise men… Kept their eyes upon the star for… Even thought they’d gone so far yet… They carried on.

Check - that - star - mate Not - chance - not - fate God’s - comin’ - down - here Roll - dudes - gotta get near. Page 9

Link 4 Mev - (Shakes his/her head in disbelief) Now I’m the one with “Culture Shock”! You are going to have to explain to me what those robots were all about. I’m quite sure there’s no mention of robots in the Bible!

Nar 1 - You’re right, but sometimes, when everything in our lives just stays the same we end up feeling a bit like robots. We get up everyday and wear the same clothes; have the same breakfast; go to the same places; do the same things with the same people, every day, every week, every month, every year…..and we stop thinking about what we’re doing or what life is all about! Then we don’t notice that something needs to change!

Mev - The wise men were not like that. They were studying the stars and reading books and trying to understand what was going on in the world. They saw the new star, they found out what it meant, and they turned their lives upside down setting off on a journey with no idea how far they would have to go or how long they would be away for!

Nar 1 - Do we know where they came from?

Mev - The Bible just says they were from the East, but the gifts give away where they came from. Gold was mined in Arabia, and frankincense and Myrrh are both from trees which only grew in south Arabia, so the wise men were Arabs.

Nar 1 - The Shepherds were Jews, and the Wise men were Arabs. I think the Jews and the Arabs are enemies. Haven’t they been fighting for thousands of years?

Mev - Yes they have. Isn’t it interesting that God brought both the Jews and the Arabs to worship Jesus! He is the Saviour for everyone.

Nar 1 - I never noticed that before, in fact I’m feeling like there are lots of things I’ve been missing about Christmas……..and I’m not the only one! Here come primary 6/5 but I’m afraid they may have more in common with the robots than the wise men.

Song 4a (p6/5 Ms Hodge) We’re Christmas Shopping Perform the poem up to the STOP! Everyone freezes in position, then short scene 5, then the Angel speaks and the sketch resumes

Song 3 - We’re Christmas Shopping (by Andy Riordan, adapted by DU) Page 10 All - We’re Christmas Shopping And we’re not stopping Got to find the greatest gift for Christmas.

1 - How about a new TV?

2 - How about a DVD?

3 - How about the latest computer game?

4 - How about a fancy clock?

5 - How about some Christmas socks?

6 - All the things in here just look the same!

All - We’re Christmas Shopping And we’re not stopping Got to find the greatest gift for Christmas.

7 - I want some fancy food.

8 - I’d love some Christmas pud.

9 - I need some help with my baking.

10 - I don’t want brussel sprouts.

11 - I hope we’re eating out.

12 - I need a rest my feet are aching.

All - We’re Christmas Shopping And we’re not stopping Got to find the greatest gift for Christmas…. Link 5 Mev - STOP! This in too stange! It looks as though you are trying to celebrate Christmas, but you’ve completely forgotten that it is about Jesus!

Nar 2 - Well it’s not really our fault! If you look in the shops you will find Santas and reindeer, snow and polar bears, penguins and fluffy dogs, toys and games, Christmas trees and fairy lights, turkey and brussel sprouts, wrapping paper and stockings, candles and parties…… but you will really struggle to find anything that reminds us that Christ-mas is about Jesus Christ. Page 11 Mev - I have an idea! I think you need to hear from an angel!

Angel - I’ve got good news for you

Tidings of great joy, it’s true!

In Bethlehem a Saviour now is given.

Jesus Christ God’s only son

A Christmas gift for everyone.

And Glory to God in highest Heaven.

(Slowly unfreeze and speak but no marching now)

13 - She says God sent his only son.

14 - A Christmas gift for everyone.

15 - God came to earth to meet us face to face.

16 - He can be with us in our hearts.

17 - He gives us all a fresh new start.

18 - We need to slow right down and give him space.

(Pause - all think about it) All - We were Christmas shopping But now we’re stopping ‘cos we have found the greatest gift of Christmas!

Song 4b (p6/5 Ms Hodge) We’re Christmas Shopping At the end of the song, the class sits down with their backs to the audience, looking at the big screen, holding their “parcel” on their knees, turned so that the number is showing for the p7s to move around slowly collecting the boxes and making up the jigsaw while the DVD of “This Baby” by Steven Curtis Chapman is showing. Once p6’s no longer have a box they just sit still watching the DVD. (Check it out on You tube)

Item 5 (p7 Ms Goudie) Picking up the pieces

(At the end of the DVD p6 go quietly and sit back in the pews) Page 12

Link 6

Nar 1 - This is an interesting jigsaw, it seems to show a map…which is always a help on any journey.

Nar 2 - I’d rather have someone with me who knew the way!

Mev - Do you see the name at the top left corner? You have to look very carefully and you might have to squish up your eyes to see it….

Nar 1 - I see it! It says Jesus.

Nar 2 - Is Jesus the one who knows the way?

Mev - He is! The word Journey runs downwards reminding us that life is a journey, with ups and downs! Can you see those words?

Nar 1 - And the last bit says “Always with us”. That sounds good.

Nar 2 -“ Ups” sound good! “Downs” sound bad. “Journey” sounds scary, but I guess life would be a lot less scary if Jesus is always with me! There’s still a problem though….

Mev - Yesssss?

Nar 1 - What now?

Nar 2 - I don’t really feel I know Jesus very well and I’ve always been told never to go with strangers! Page 13 Mev - Good advice! But we can help you there. On the way out today we are giving you a present! It’s one small bit of the Bible. The book of Luke. If you read it you will really get a picture of who Jesus is, and how much He wants to be part of your life.

Nar 1 -It says “More than Gold…” on the front. Because the chance to get to know Jesus is a gift more precious than Gold….or Frankinsence or Myrrh.

Nar 2 - Are you sure Jesus will want to get to know me….. I’m not very special, I’m just ordinary, and I do worry when things change..

Mev - Jesus, God’s son was born in an ordinary house, welcomed into the home and the hearts of an ordinary family, and the first Christmas Party had scruffy shepherds as guests.

Nar 1 - Trust us! Jesus knows you and He loves you! The only question is will you welcome him into your ordinary life?

Nar 2 - I will! Now I’ve got a question for you! When is a Christmas party not a Christmas party?

MEV and Nar 1 together - We don’t know! When is a Christmas party not a Christmas Party?

Nar 2 - When Jesus isn’t invited!

Nar1 - Well He’s invited here, and so are you! Let’s sing Come and join the celebration.

Song 6 Come and join the celebration! Page 14 Come and join the celebration It’s a very special day Come and share our jubilation There’s a new King born today

1 See the shepherds hurry down to Bethlehem Gaze in wonder At the son go God who lay before them.

Come and join…

2 Wise men journey Led to worship by a star Kneel in homage, Bringing precious gifts from Lands afar, so

Come and join…

3 “God is with us” round the world the message bring He is with us “Welcome” all the bells on earth are pealing

Come and join…

Bring all the infants on in front of the big jigsaw with Mary Joseph and the Baby front and Centre. P4/3 behind them, and anyone else we can squeeze on stage! The End. Page 15