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Nov. 6th, 2008 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaOkay, by request: the script for the Christmas pageant I wrote.
"The Friendly Beasts"
A Unitarian-Universalist Christmas Pageant
Note: The carol verses can be sung by the congregation, or by a chorus of children. That depends on how much interest there is in being part of the pageant. The carol verses are in bold text in the script.
Scene: A stable. Cow and Sheep are in the background as the Innkeeper enters with Mary, Joseph, and the Donkey.
Jesus, our brother, kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable rude
And the friendly beasts around him stood
Jesus, our brother, kind and good.
Innkeeper: Here you are. Cleanest stable in Bethlehem.
Joseph: This is the best you can do?
Innkeeper: Sorry. You aren't the only strangers looking for a place to sleep tonight. My inn is full from top to bottom.
Mary: We'll make it work. Thank you.
(Innkeeper leaves. Mary and Joseph stable the donkey and move back into shadow as the other Animals come forward.)
Donkey: (to other animals) What a disaster!
Cow: What's wrong?
Donkey: This poor woman is about to have a baby. They've been traveling all day - something about having to pay their taxes in Bethlehem. And now she has to have her baby in a barn. She can't even go inside to rest.
Sheep: So? All of *us* were born in a barn.
Donkey: It's different for humans. They're used to having other humans to help them. And they need *things* for the baby.
Cow: She walked all the way to Bethlehem when she was about to have a baby?
Donkey: No. Actually, I carried her.
(Other animals pause, look Donkey up and down.)
Sheep: You're awfully small to carry such an enormously big woman.
Donkey: I didn't know what else to do. She was in pain. I just had to do something to help.
I, said the donkey all shaggy and brown
I carried his mother uphill and down
I carried her over to Bethlehem town
I, said the donkey all shaggy and brown.
Cow: I've been thinking. Where are they even going to put the baby? It's just animal stalls, in here.
Sheep: What do you mean? We've all seen babies. They're born into the straw, they stagger to their feet, and a minute later they're following their mothers around. You don't have to put them anywhere special.
Donkey: Not human babies - they can't walk at all. They're pretty helpless.
Sheep: That's weird.
Cow: Someplace raised up, I guess? So his mother can sit next to him? ...We could use my manger.
Sheep: If we use your manger, what will we do with your hay?
Cow: I was going to leave it there.
Sheep: But then you won't have anything to eat.
Cow: I can wait until breakfast. The hay will make a softer bed for the baby.
I, said the cow all white and red
I gave him my manger for his bed
I gave him my hay to pillow his head
I, said the cow all white and red.
Cow: You know, it's pretty cold tonight. What's going to keep the baby warm?
Sheep: He'll have fur, right? All babies have fur.
Donkey: No, human babies are born naked. We need to cover him up with something. Hmmm. (All search the stable.) Straw? No, too prickly.
Cow: Um, um, oats? No, they'll just slide right off him.
Sheep: (long pause) Okay. Give me a hand with my wool. Just... pull it off... okay, there. (Cow and Donkey remove fleece from Sheep's costume.) It's the warmest you'll find anywhere. And soft. He can wear my wool.
I, said the sheep with curly horn
I gave him my wool for his blanket warm
He wore my coat on Christmas morn
I, said the sheep with curly horn.
(Mary brings forth the baby, wraps him in the sheep's wool, and lays him in the manger.)
Donkey: I think we're all set. Transportation... a bed... clothes... his mother can feed him. That's all we need, right?
Cow: What if he cries? Born in a stable, far from home - he's going to be pretty scared and confused.
Sheep: Maybe we could sing to him. (Animals moo, bleat, and bray, loudly and discordantly.)
Donkey: (pause) ...Maybe we should ask the doves instead.
(Littlest kids come out in dove costumes, fly around the stable, and then sing one verse of "Silent Night.")
I, said the dove from the rafters high
I cooed him to sleep so he wouldn't cry
We cooed him to sleep, my friends and I
I, said the dove from the rafters high.
Sheep: Look outside! I've never seen a star that big before. And I think that's an angel flying through the air! You don't see that every day. Hey, is there something special about this baby?
Donkey: Yes, there sure is!
Sheep: What is it? What is it?
Donkey: There has never been anyone like this baby ever before, and there will never be anyone like this baby ever again. This baby has the potential to do great things! He might teach the whole world about love and peace.
Cow: And this baby gave us a chance to show how we can help someone who really needs it. We learned to be more caring, because of this baby.
Sheep: Wait a minute. You could say the same things about *every* baby.
Donkey: Yes! That's exactly right. *Each* night a child is born is a holy night.
Cow: Wow. We got to be part of a holy night.
Doves: I'm glad we helped.
Cow: I hope he remembers us, when he grows up. I hope his life will show that we started him out with love.
Donkey: You know what? I think it will.
Thus every beast, by some good spell
In the stable dark, was glad to tell
Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel
The gifts they gave Emmanuel.
"The Friendly Beasts"
A Unitarian-Universalist Christmas Pageant
Note: The carol verses can be sung by the congregation, or by a chorus of children. That depends on how much interest there is in being part of the pageant. The carol verses are in bold text in the script.
Scene: A stable. Cow and Sheep are in the background as the Innkeeper enters with Mary, Joseph, and the Donkey.
Jesus, our brother, kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable rude
And the friendly beasts around him stood
Jesus, our brother, kind and good.
Innkeeper: Here you are. Cleanest stable in Bethlehem.
Joseph: This is the best you can do?
Innkeeper: Sorry. You aren't the only strangers looking for a place to sleep tonight. My inn is full from top to bottom.
Mary: We'll make it work. Thank you.
(Innkeeper leaves. Mary and Joseph stable the donkey and move back into shadow as the other Animals come forward.)
Donkey: (to other animals) What a disaster!
Cow: What's wrong?
Donkey: This poor woman is about to have a baby. They've been traveling all day - something about having to pay their taxes in Bethlehem. And now she has to have her baby in a barn. She can't even go inside to rest.
Sheep: So? All of *us* were born in a barn.
Donkey: It's different for humans. They're used to having other humans to help them. And they need *things* for the baby.
Cow: She walked all the way to Bethlehem when she was about to have a baby?
Donkey: No. Actually, I carried her.
(Other animals pause, look Donkey up and down.)
Sheep: You're awfully small to carry such an enormously big woman.
Donkey: I didn't know what else to do. She was in pain. I just had to do something to help.
I, said the donkey all shaggy and brown
I carried his mother uphill and down
I carried her over to Bethlehem town
I, said the donkey all shaggy and brown.
Cow: I've been thinking. Where are they even going to put the baby? It's just animal stalls, in here.
Sheep: What do you mean? We've all seen babies. They're born into the straw, they stagger to their feet, and a minute later they're following their mothers around. You don't have to put them anywhere special.
Donkey: Not human babies - they can't walk at all. They're pretty helpless.
Sheep: That's weird.
Cow: Someplace raised up, I guess? So his mother can sit next to him? ...We could use my manger.
Sheep: If we use your manger, what will we do with your hay?
Cow: I was going to leave it there.
Sheep: But then you won't have anything to eat.
Cow: I can wait until breakfast. The hay will make a softer bed for the baby.
I, said the cow all white and red
I gave him my manger for his bed
I gave him my hay to pillow his head
I, said the cow all white and red.
Cow: You know, it's pretty cold tonight. What's going to keep the baby warm?
Sheep: He'll have fur, right? All babies have fur.
Donkey: No, human babies are born naked. We need to cover him up with something. Hmmm. (All search the stable.) Straw? No, too prickly.
Cow: Um, um, oats? No, they'll just slide right off him.
Sheep: (long pause) Okay. Give me a hand with my wool. Just... pull it off... okay, there. (Cow and Donkey remove fleece from Sheep's costume.) It's the warmest you'll find anywhere. And soft. He can wear my wool.
I, said the sheep with curly horn
I gave him my wool for his blanket warm
He wore my coat on Christmas morn
I, said the sheep with curly horn.
(Mary brings forth the baby, wraps him in the sheep's wool, and lays him in the manger.)
Donkey: I think we're all set. Transportation... a bed... clothes... his mother can feed him. That's all we need, right?
Cow: What if he cries? Born in a stable, far from home - he's going to be pretty scared and confused.
Sheep: Maybe we could sing to him. (Animals moo, bleat, and bray, loudly and discordantly.)
Donkey: (pause) ...Maybe we should ask the doves instead.
(Littlest kids come out in dove costumes, fly around the stable, and then sing one verse of "Silent Night.")
I, said the dove from the rafters high
I cooed him to sleep so he wouldn't cry
We cooed him to sleep, my friends and I
I, said the dove from the rafters high.
Sheep: Look outside! I've never seen a star that big before. And I think that's an angel flying through the air! You don't see that every day. Hey, is there something special about this baby?
Donkey: Yes, there sure is!
Sheep: What is it? What is it?
Donkey: There has never been anyone like this baby ever before, and there will never be anyone like this baby ever again. This baby has the potential to do great things! He might teach the whole world about love and peace.
Cow: And this baby gave us a chance to show how we can help someone who really needs it. We learned to be more caring, because of this baby.
Sheep: Wait a minute. You could say the same things about *every* baby.
Donkey: Yes! That's exactly right. *Each* night a child is born is a holy night.
Cow: Wow. We got to be part of a holy night.
Doves: I'm glad we helped.
Cow: I hope he remembers us, when he grows up. I hope his life will show that we started him out with love.
Donkey: You know what? I think it will.
Thus every beast, by some good spell
In the stable dark, was glad to tell
Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel
The gifts they gave Emmanuel.
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Date: 2008-11-07 02:31 am (UTC)