I finally got the opportunity to direct the Christmas show at church. It has been something I've kinda always wanted to try. Since we have no Worship Arts Pastor, everything is being done by a team-- namely Chris, David, Ben, and Debbie (and now me). The guys approached me in September about it and I accepted. The script was from Willow Creek and was a group of "players" telling the story of Christmas, featuring moments from creation, the prophets, and finally ending on the cross. I decided to make the players a medieval theatre troupe on a pageant wagon, as in the days of the cycle plays. This allowed us to amp up the short script with an adaptation of The Second Shepherd's Play, an hilarious classical piece from the Wakefield Cycle about three shepherds on their way to see the Christ Child. We also included God's monologue from the Creation play and threw in the songs
I Have Seen the Light, and from the movie
Sister Act, the gospel version of
Joyful, Joyful. We worked in all in together to create a hodge-podge, interactive nativity scene. Sounds kooky, but it actually worked pretty well.
The Players were all onstage the whole time. They got props from the trunk (UL) and told their "story" to the townsfolk (little kids) seated downstage. Occasionally throughout the play, when the leading player had to make a point, he would clap his hands and the players would move into some sort of tableau.
The prophet scene where an unspecified prophet tries to convince the people that they need to listen to God and that He is sending a Messiah, whom they will reject.
The cast sang a lovely medley of
O Come O Come Emmanuel with
Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus and we had a gypsy dancer in the background.
A scene from
The Second Shepherd's Play with little Evelyn playing the lamb that gets stolen. The cast really nailed this play, even with its elevated language.
This is the culmination of all the nativity scene elements onstage. If you look closely, you can see Mary and baby Jesus, three Shepherds, three Wise Men (they sang
I Have Seen the Light), Angel Choir in the back (singing
Joyful Joyful), townsfolk kids down front and additional Players off to the sides.
The "choose your own ending"-- final scene where the cast encourages the audience to look beyond the manger to the cross. The light lingered on the cross before blackout.
The Players were all onstage the whole time. They got props from the trunk (UL) and told their "story" to the townsfolk (little kids) seated downstage. Occasionally throughout the play, when the leading player had to make a point, he would clap his hands and the players would move into some sort of tableau.
The prophet scene where an unspecified prophet tries to convince the people that they need to listen to God and that He is sending a Messiah, whom they will reject.
The cast sang a lovely medley of O Come O Come Emmanuel with Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus and we had a gypsy dancer in the background.
A scene from The Second Shepherd's Play with little Evelyn playing the lamb that gets stolen. The cast really nailed this play, even with its elevated language.
This is the culmination of all the nativity scene elements onstage. If you look closely, you can see Mary and baby Jesus, three Shepherds, three Wise Men (they sang I Have Seen the Light), Angel Choir in the back (singing Joyful Joyful), townsfolk kids down front and additional Players off to the sides.
The "choose your own ending"-- final scene where the cast encourages the audience to look beyond the manger to the cross. The light lingered on the cross before blackout.
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