DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? by Leone Castell Anderson Copyright Notice CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this Work is subject to a royalty. This Work is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations, whether through bilateral or multilateral treaties or otherwise, and including, but not limited to, all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention and the Berne Convention. RIGHTS RESERVED: All rights to this Work are strictly reserved, including professional and amateur stage performance rights. 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COPYING: Any unauthorized copying of this Work or excerpts from this Work is strictly forbidden by law. No part of this Work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means now known or yet to be invented, including photocopying or scanning, without prior permission from Christian Publishers. Copyright © Christian Publishers Printed in the United States of America All Rights Reserved Do You Hear What I Hear? A children’s program in sound and song by Leone Castell Anderson 2 CAST OF CHARACTERS Leader (May be male or female. Use appropriate Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, or first name.) Child 1-6 Mary Joseph Shepherds (Two or more) Choir All Scripture is the author’s paraphrase from Luke 2. This perusal script is for reading purposes only. No performance or photocopy rights are conveyed. 3 PRODUCTION NOTES Ringing and singing, the sounds of Christmas abound — in church, at home, in the stores, all around. This program for Sunday school students has an easy and informal feel, as the children explore what we hear at Christmastime with their teacher. All will smile at the youthful energy of their comments as they warm to the topic. It’s not just noise, but a veritable orchestra of bells (jingle, sleigh, Salvation Army, door, and church), weather (the howl of winter winds and the crunch of snow), people (Christmas greetings, laughter, and gift-receiving gratitude), nuts cracking, and fireplaces crackling in a cadence of good cheer! It’s even the sacred hush of silence. This program also includes traditional elements, like the Christmas story from Luke 2 and a Nativity tableau, plus many opportunities for congregational carol-singing and child instrumental solos. Cast Extra children may be included as singers or bell-ringers. Costumes You will need biblical robes, headpieces, and sandals for Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds. Additionally, the Shepherds should also hold staffs. The Children and Leader may dress as they normally do for church. Props Child 3 needs sleigh bells and a drum, Child 4 needs jingle bells and his or her musical instrument, and Child 5 needs a handbell and his or her musical instrument. You will also need a manger with a doll wrapped in a blanket inside for the Nativity tableau and a wrapped gift for the Leader. Set You will need seven stools for the Leader and the Children. This perusal script is for reading purposes only. No performance or photocopy rights are conveyed. 4 1 (LEADER enters and arranges stools, etc. Off-Stage sounds of 2 voices and jingling bells may be heard. LEADER and 3 CHILDREN ad-lib words of greeting to each other as they come 4 in and seat themselves on stools.) 5 LEADER: I could hear as you came in that some of you 6 remembered to bring what we talked about last 7 Sunday. 8 CHILD 1: I wasn’t here last Sunday. Were we supposed to 9 bring something? 10 LEADER: Not necessarily. I asked everyone to give some 11 thought to sounds — sounds that we associate with 12 Christmas. 13 CHILD 2: I didn’t bring anything, but I thought of a sound. 14 (Pauses.) 15 LEADER: (Encouraging him or her) Yes ... ? 16 CHILD 2: Oh, you’ll probably all laugh ... 17 ALL: (Ad-lib) Go ahead, What is it? Come on, tell us, etc. 18 CHILD 2: (Hesitantly) Well ... listen. (Moment of silence) 19 CHILD 3: I don’t hear anything. 20 CHILD 2: That’s what I mean. At first, when you’re waiting 21 and waiting for Christmas to come, the sound is inside 22 you ... 23 CHILD 4: (Catching on) Sure. It’s like a little voice ... 24 CHILD 5: And it says, “Wait ... wait ... wait ... ” 25 CHILD 6: That’s right. When I’m waiting for something 26 special to happen, it’s like I’m listening for it. 27 LEADER: We might call that the sound of anticipation. Yes, 28 that’s a sound of Christmas. And when we’re waiting for 29 Christmas in the church year, we call it ... 30 SEVERAL CHILDREN: (Together) Advent. 31 LEADER: So we could say that one of the first sounds of 32 Christmas is the sound of Advent. 33 34 SUGGESTED SONG: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” or 35 another appropriate Advent song by Choir. 36 37 CHILD 2: So there’s a waiting sound inside us, but there are 38 other sounds too. When I think of Christmas, I hear This perusal script is for reading purposes only. No performance or photocopy rights are conveyed. 5 1 bells! (Those who brought bells ring them all together.) 2 CHILD 4: (Shaking bells) Jingle bells! 3 CHILD 3 (Shaking bells) Sleigh bells! 4 CHILD 5: (Ringing handbell slowly) I thought of the Salvation 5 Army people who stand with their kettles, asking for 6 donations. 7 CHILD 1: I didn’t bring any bells, but I’ve thought of one. A 8 doorbell! 9 ALL: (Ad-lib reactions) A doorbell? You’re kidding! Really? 10 etc. 11 CHILD 1: Well, sure. The doorbell’s always ringing during 12 the holidays. The mailman with Christmas cards or 13 packages ... relatives and friends coming to visit ... 14 LEADER: (Laughs.) I think we all agree that bells are a sound 15 of Christmas — even doorbells! 16 CHILD 2: What about church bells? 17 LEADER: Right. Church bells have always been rung to 18 proclaim the good news. 19 20 SUGGESTED SONG: “Carol of the Bells” or another 21 appropriate song by Choir. 22 23 CHILD 5: When I hear bells ringing, I always feel — well, 24 cheerful. 25 CHILD 3: I know what you mean. It’s a really happy sound. 26 LEADER: All right, what other “happy” sounds of Christmas 27 can you think of? 28 CHILD 4: When our family’s all together during the 29 holidays — my brothers back from college, and my 30 aunts and uncles and cousins — we’re quite a bunch, 31 and we do a lot of laughing. 32 CHILD 1: You should hear us when we’re trimming the 33 tree — we make plenty of noise. 34 CHILD 2: We always have a big bowl of nuts on the table at 35 Christmas. I like the sound of cracking nutshells. 36 CHILD 3: We always have a fire in the fireplace. It snaps and 37 crackles. You just can’t help feeling good when you hear 38 it. This perusal script is for reading purposes only. No performance or photocopy rights are conveyed. 6 1 CHILD 5: Even the winter wind howling outside is sort of 2 fun to listen to when you’re nice and snug inside by the 3 fire. 4 CHILD 6: I like the crunch of snow under my feet. 5 CHILD 5: When it’s really cold, the snow squeaks. 6 CHILD 4: I like the sound of everyone stomping the snow off 7 their feet when they come inside. 8 CHILD 2: And everyone calling, “Merry Christmas!” 9 CHILD 1: We do a lot of singing around the piano. 10 CHILD 4: Oh, we always have a lot of music at our house. 11 That’s why I brought my _________ (Insert appropriate 12 musical instrument) as a sound of Christmas.