The Day That Baby Jesus Came to Town Testimonial
What did you think of the script?
“It was great fun ! We all had such a laugh!
It really helped that it was easy to learn so even the younger children could join in”
Anna Sharp, aged 14 years (Took part in Angela’s nativity service)
Although I have not yet put together a combination of the fabulous customer feedback that I have received to date, I have used the script myself at our church nativity service, with carols for everyone to join in with (we didn’t have many young children to do the singing) and have therefore been able to provide photographs and tips from our own performance which will help you in planning yours, including costumes, props and script prompts etc. You can also click here to preview the script and decide for yourself.
This is therefore my own judgement, based on my experience of using the script:
Click the titles below to read Information about the Baby Jesus nativity play:
Not unless you have some older, more confident readers/actors for the main roles, but young children are ideal for the rest so just take on board the following points….
Most of the cast will have 1 or 2 rhyming lines to say, and those who have more tend to be repeated lines, so there are many parts which are suitable.
The singing will really appeal to young children as I have used tunes such as “Here we go round the Mulberry Bush” (This is the Way to Bethlehem), and “1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a Fish Alive” (One, Two, Three Wise Men). See “The Day That Baby Jesus Came to Town” page for specific song details.
However, you would need to bear in mind that the main narration element is done by the Innkeeper’s wife (acting, but using her diary as a script), with interaction with the main innkeeper. These 2 parts are crucial to the flow of the script and would be beyond a young child as it involves ‘scan reading’ a large amount of lines, but could be taken by someone older, or even a teacher instead. Click here for a preview of The Day That Baby Jesus Came to Town to decide for yourself.
Definitely. There’s a real opportunity for the actors, singers and dancers to really shine, especially as a mixed age cast. Casting appropriately is the important part, as there as some very different parts within the script. It’s a really fun script to perform and to watch.
The singing is particularly suited to school as the songs all use simple words to familiar children’s tunes, making them easy to pick up, and there are some great songs for the younger children (see above for details)
- Absolutely. That’s where I used it! We do our nativity play as part of a nativity service when all of the congregation sing carols at the appropriate moment in the script, and there is plenty of scope for you to adapt the script to suit your own specific needs too, as I did for our church.
Can the script be adapted for a small cast?
Definitely. It is written for a cast of up to 24 but we adapted it to a cast of 10. These are the changes that we made:
- One person played 3 innkeepers and humorously changed costume behind the scenes as Mary and Joseph had their conversations between knocking on doors. Once, she took a little too long and Joseph had to knock twice (looking puzzled/ concerned) and a late, stressed looking innkeeper arrived in a different costume, to everyone’s amusement when they thought something had gone wrong! Here are the tiny changes we made:
- Our soldier wore an angel dress underneath and just took the tunic and golden collar off during the hymn. Here’s a photo of the costume we used (plus a basic spear!):
- The main innkeeper isn’t needed towards the end of the script so he doubled up as a king by simply adding a cloak and a crown over his innkeeper tunic. A kimono or satin dressing-gown would be sufficient: no need to make anything special. We only had 2 kings, but they still brought 3 gifts.
We used the whole script with the exception of the small scene of 12 lines at the end, so the nativity was the usual length.
Absolutely, it would be perfect on both counts.
A mixed age cast means that the older children/ adult can keep the flow of the nativity by taking the roles of narrator, innkeeper’s wife and main inn keeper, which offer lots of chance to bring the humour to the acting of the script. The bulk of the script is suitable for any age, and the songs and angels are very much geared to younger children.
An all adult cast could use carols at the appropriate part as we did, rather than using the songs that are aimed at younger children.
Absolutely. Following the same guidelines for casting as previously mentioned for pre-schools, this script is adaptable and flexible enough to use anywhere where the full, biblical nativity story can be told with humour. It has lots of opportunity for character acting, with attitude and sarasm, and for individuals to shine in their own roles.
Just how flexible and adaptable is the script? What if someone is ill on the day?
No problem. On the day of the nativity all 3 of our innkeepers were played by the same person who hadn’t even been able to attend a rehearsal: it’s that simple to follow! We gave her a clipboard with her prompt script on and called it the inn’s register!
Having such a small cast we were nervous of having no back up to stand in if anyone was ill, so we used prompt stickers on all of the props so no-one had to remember their lines and it made it straight forward for anyone to step in at the last moment. (Printable ones are included with the script).
Here are photos of the props with their stickers (which are unseen by the audience as they face the actor)
The bulk of the narration is done by the innkeeper’s wife who tells it as if she is reading from her diary so anyone with the confidence to read and follow the script could stand in.
No. We casted 8 to 14 year olds in our main roles and narration, but couldn’t manage ANY full rehearsals, so it had to be simple (we had 2 sessions of 1 hour each, but not everyone could attend) The important thing is to have a confident innkeeper’s wife, who reads from her diary throughout and this keeps the flow. The prompt stickers mentioned above make it so simple.
It was great fun to perform, and easy to remember because of the rhyme and rhythm, (especially as most parts only have a few lines) but having the sticker prompts made it so that it was sufficient to just be familiar with the lines rather than needing to learn them. Our children chose the script themselves and always planned to enjoy it!
We had a brilliant time with it, and several of our congregation said it was one of the best nativities that we have done. We even played a joke on ‘Mary and Joseph’ when the innkeeper (all 3 played by the same person who just changed their costume and appearance) came out wearing a fake moustache, and no-one could say their lines for laughing!
I honestly believe so as the script is so easy to use and change, and even more so if you upgrade to the word document version. All of the preparation is done for you, with each cast member’s lines ready to print and distribute, and printable prompt stickers: even the soldier’s scroll. The songs are flexible enough to use in any nativity and include the sheet music AND midi backing tracks, and everything is instantly downloadable, but even if you choose to use your own songs it would still be a bargain.
For now, you’ll have to take my word for it, but customers of this new script will all be given the opportunity to offer feedback at some point in return for a free script from my selection.
A key focus for me is to make the music simple and effective so that it doesn’t take long to pick up. “1,2, 3 Wise men” even includes actions from the sidelines to prompt with the very simple words, so even the youngest children can join in.
HERE ARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE COSTUMES
THAT WE USED (PLUS A NARRATOR)……
