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**Seraph** · 12-17-2017, 08:23 AM

The South Pacific Advent Calendar - Day 17

Well as we've the third Sunday of Advent, I thought it would be nice to share some Nativity Tales.

If you've ever celebrated Christmas, then, chances are you've experienced or even performed in a nativity play, usually associated with children and, as with most children's performances, often chaotic and hilarious.

My own strongest nativity memory came from a primary school play in which I was going to play Joseph (!!!)... until it became clear that I could sing the high notes in his signature song, so I got demoted to a lineless shepherd. No wonder it wasn't for nearly another two decades before I really got involved in drama again!

Here's an excerpt from a book all about funny naivities...

Gervase Phinn Wrote:"Children! Children!" exclaimed the vicar, raising a hand like a crossing patrol warden stopping cars. "Christmas is not just about presents, you know. It's really a celebration of a birthday. It's about the birth of a very special baby."

"I know what it were called," said the small wiry boy.

The vicar interlaced his long fingers just beneath his chin in an attitude of a child praying and smiled. "I'm very glad to hear it," he said in that solicitous and kindly time often possessed by men of the cloth.

"It were called Wayne," the child told him.

"Wayne? Certainly not! What a thought!" cried the vicar in mock horror.

"It were!" cried the boy, undeterred. "Babby were called Wayne!"

"No, it wasn't called Wayne," said the vicar, his jaw tightening and his voice quavering a little. He bit his lip momentarily. The poor man had imagined that speaking to a group of small children about Christmas would be an easy enough task but he was now regretting he had ever agreed to visit the school that morning. "The baby was called Jesus," the vicar told him, slowly and deliberately.

"It were called Wayne," persisted the child, nodding vigorously.

"Jesus!" snapped the vicar.

"Wayne," repeated the child. "I know, 'cos we all sent about it in assembly:' A Wayne in a manger, no crib got a bed. '"

That was taken from A Wayne in a Manner by former school inspector turned writer, Gervase Phinn. The book contains lots more stories like that, but perhaps you have something similar in your own life, or have an especially fond (or even bad) memory of a childhood nativity? We want to know!

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And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond!

Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi.

Salma 145:8

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Nakari · 12-17-2017, 11:27 AM

In my first year of school, I was cast as an angel in the Nativity because the angel had loads of lines and I was pretty much the only kid who could read that much yet. The next year I moved schools, and though usually Year 1s got to be narrators in the year below's Nativity, the plan changed pretty late. We did some silly Christmas play about sentient Christmas decorations being purged from the tree for imperfections, which now that I think about it is actually kind of dark. I was cast as the defective tinsel. While all the other Christmas decorations had to learn a decoration themed dance, us defective decorations were told that on the night we just had to go on stage and try and dance what everyone else was doing, to make us look truly defective. And that's how I learned that non-conformity, even when you are trying your best to conform, still can cause ostracism and banishment Sad

Qaweritoyu · 12-19-2017, 01:30 PM

I played Jesus Christ in my most memorable performance, although, it wasn't obvious my character was Jesus until the end, he was the protagonist of the play. 2 years later, my brother would go on to play Lucifer Soultrader in his play as the antagonist of his play.

My play was about about how rich people were spending Christmas that year while my character sat in the street with holes in his hands and his feet, getting ignored throughout the play until the end when someone took notice of me. At the end, we all went on again for a bow individually, it was then that it was revealed I was Jesus as I held out in my hand three nails, then took my bow.

Spoiler

(This post was last modified: 12-19-2017, 01:33 PM by Qaweritoyu.)