By Dr. Curtis Varnell
Virtually every Church sign, regardless of denomination, is currently announcing the date and time for their annual Christmas play. Usually composed of children actors and choir, the play tells the Christmas story portrayed by very novice children actors. Most plays include Christ, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men and a menagerie of animals.
The choice roles are Mary and Joseph and kids at our church waited for years for the opportunity to assume those roles. My sister Glenda had dreamed for years of being Mary, with high hopes that one of the Trusty boys would play Joseph. She was extremely disappointed when her turn as Mary came and she found that she was stuck with me playing Joseph.
Kids practiced for weeks leading up to their debut as stage stars. Attendance that night was at a maximum. Grandparents and relatives that had not seen the interior of a church in months were suddenly vying for the front seat to see and hear their budding star. The end product often resulted in more comedy than drama as kids portrayed or sang everything imaginable and parents laughed at the resulting fiasco.
My cousin Roy was portraying the innkeeper and was doing a very respectable and dramatic recreation of sending the poor Joseph and Mary to the stable behind his Inn when his clothing caught the prop holding the inn upright. Not in the script but with urgency, the poor Sunday school teacher director screamed, “Stop Roy, stop. Your pulling it …..” Her line was interrupted as the entire wall toppled forward, narrowly missing the Virgin Mary and Joseph. Fortunately, Roy was left untouched surrounded by the remnants of his Holiday Inn.
The young children were the most fun as they sang the Little Town of Bethlehem or what passed as a facsimile of it. The loudest voices always seemed about a half-sentence behind the lead singer while two of the children verbally and physically fought over the microphone. At my colleague’s church at Golden City, her four-year-old niece Millie showed off her new dress and undergarments by mooning the congregation. The second part of her act was to get on all fours and to crawl under the benches and through the sea of legs with auntie in hot pursuit.
Little kids dressed as animals were always cute. Sheep, camels, and horses were included in the manger scene, all gathered around the manger celebrating Christ’s birth. Somehow, our church at Midway got a full-sized donkey suit so two adults were enlisted to portray the donkey. Wes White played the head of the donkey and his braying was something to behold and brought gales of laughter. I am not sure who played the donkeys rear end but that are no shortages of names that come to mind!!
Live manger scenes with animals did not work well as we discovered at Caulksville Cumberland Presbyterian church. I think our reenactment would have been much more pleasant if the owners of the animals had properly toilet trained the cattle and sheep before debuting them as actors. Reverend Vanmeter’s shoes will never be the same.
My son Lucas is a budding star and will make his first (and maybe final) appearance at our Christmas play on Dec.18th. I am anticipating, with some trepidation and fear, what secrets he may share or actions he may do as he gets his few minutes of fame.
As your holiday approaches and you remember the Christmas’s of the past, don’t forget to go watch some of these budding stars as they portray the true meaning of Christmas.
Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
