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Stories of the First Christmas
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Stories of the First Christmas
With these plays in STORIES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS, prepare to have a series of plays available for you for several years Christmas Eve that will engage the children in your congregation.
Author: Delvyn Case
Synopsis:
Children come to a Christmas Eve service excited about the ‘holiday,” but how do you get them excited about Christmas? How do you channel their excitement into the real story of Christmas so that even the very young in the congregation will understand what happened that wonderful night? It was for this purpose that five plays I’ve written for children have been assembled into the collection STORIES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS. Each of these plays is less than five minutes long and requires only one actor in a Bible costume and minimal props. But each play will present the story of Christmas from a different perspective, allowing the children to understand how Christmas affected all those present in Bethlehem long ago and will affect them today.
THE TALE OF THE INNKEEPER’S WIFE has the wife of the innkeeper returning to the stable to feed the animals (the children) and wondering about this strange couple who has come all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. Because there was no room for them in their inn, the woman Mary gave birth to their Son Jesus in the stable, and the stable became filled with shepherds who heard about the birth of this child from angels!
THE SHEPHERD’S STORY recounts that angels appeared to the shepherds in the field and told them exactly what they would see when they found the baby in the stable. The shepherd then tells the children that the shepherds are going to tell everyone the exciting news that the Savior has been born!
JOSEPH’S JOURNEY has Joseph explaining how and why he had to bring Mary, almost ready to deliver her baby, 100 miles from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem-all because of what the Bible had promised long before.
MARY’S SONG gives Mary an opportunity to explain to the children Jesus’ birth and how the world will never now be the same. Mary admits she does not know all that will come to pass, but Jesus’ birth is the beginning of something wonderful!
WISDOM FROM A WISE MAN has one of the wise men explain to the children that a new bright star appeared to them in a land far away and why they decided to follow it. The star stopped, not over a palace or castle, but over a simple stable with simple people. Isn’t this God’s way? A Savior coming for all people, even those living in simple towns and even out in the fields.
With these plays in STORIES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS, prepare to have a series of plays available for you for several years Christmas Eve that will engage the children in your congregation to
Stories of the First Christmas
Stories of the First Christmas:
Five Short Plays for Children with Characters Involved In the First Christmas Dramatizing What Happened that Wonderful Night
by
Delvyn C. Case, Jr.
TALES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
Copyright ©2017 by Delvyn C. Case, Jr.
All Rights Reserved
CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that TALES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, the British Commonwealth, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, and the rights of translation into foreign language are strictly reserved.
The amateur live stage performance rights to TALES OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS are controlled exclusively by Drama Source and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation. PLEASE NOTE that amateur royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances. When applying for a royalty quotation and license please give us the number of performances intended, dates of production, your seating capacity and the admission fee. Royalties are payable one week before the opening performance of the play to Drama Source Co., 1588 E. 361 N., St. Anthony, Idaho 83445.
Royalty of the required amount must be paid whether the play is presented for charity or gain, and whether or not admission is charged. For all other rights than those stipulated above, apply to Drama Source Company, 1588 E. 361 N. St. Anthony, Idaho 83445.
Copying from this book in whole or in part is strictly forbidden by law, and the right of performance is not transferable.
Whenever the play is produced, the following notice must appear on all programs, printing and advertising for the play, “Produced by special arrangement with Drama Source Co.”
Due authorship credit must be given on all programs, printing and advertising for the play.
No one shall commit or authorize any act or omission by which the copyright or the rights to copyright of this play may be impaired.
No one shall make changes in this play for the purpose of production without written permission.
Publication of this play does not imply availability for performance. Both amateurs and professionals considering a production are strongly advised in their own interests to apply to Drama Source Company for written permission before starting rehearsals, advertising, or booking a theatre.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, now known or yet to be invented, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, videotaping or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
The Tale of the Innkeeper’s Wife …………………………………………..1
(After the birth of Jesus, the innkeeper’s wife returns to the stable
to feed the animals and reflects upon what has happened.)
The Shepherd’s Story …………………………………………………………….6
(A shepherd tells the amazing story of Jesus’ birth and how angels
appeared to the shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem.)
Joseph’s Journey …………………………………………………………………11
(Joseph tells about his incredible journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey with his wife Mary and the birth of Jesus in a stable.)
Mary’s Song………………………………………………………………………..15
(Mary, the mother of Jesus, tells her story of Jesus’ birth)
Wisdom from a Wise Man……………………………………………………19
(One of the Wise Men shares what he has learned from following
the star and finding Jesus in a stable.)
PRODUCTION NOTE: For each play, the children of the congregation can be invited to come up to the front of the church/platform/stage and sit in the middle of the action with the character in the play.
The Tale of the Innkeeper’s
Characters
MIRIAM, an innkeeper’s wife, age 35-55
Voice in SFX
Time: Late Christmas Eve after Jesus was born
Place: The stable of an inn in Bethlehem where Jesus was born
Set/Costumes/Props
A manger filled with straw at center stage. MIRIAM is dressed in a colorful Bible robe with an apron with pockets, a head covering over her shoulders, and sandals.
The Tale of the Innkeeper’s Wife
[SFX (as the lights fade to black)]
Sound of cows
Sound of sheep
“The Son of God’s been born this day”
“He’s come to save the world from sin”
Sound of chickens
“To open Heaven for all mankind”
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace, good will toward men”
Sound of dogs
(As the lights come up, MIRIAM enters from stage left and
crosses to center stage. She is amazed at what she has heard)
MIRIAM
It couldn’t have been talking. NO! ‘COURSE NOT! Not from the stable. Not from…
[SFX: Sound of cows, sheep, and chickens]
(MIRIAM nods)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
That’s more like it. (scratching head) The talking must have come from the inn.
(MIRIAM raises her arms in excitement and looks off center stage)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
WHAT A NIGHT! WHAT AN AMAZING NIGHT! It started out like any other night. (motioning off center stage) You were fed. (pointing toward stage left) The guests in the inn were fed. (with a sigh) And everybody was getting ready for bed. THEN, (pointing toward stage right) that couple from Nazareth arrived, and the young woman started delivering a BABY in our yard! Why would she travel here to Bethlehem, ONE HUNDRED MILES, in that condition? The young woman, Mary was her name, said: TO PAY TAXES!
(MIRIAM puts her hands on her hips)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
Couldn’t she’ve stayed at home till the baby was born? Joseph, Mary’s husband, said, they HAD to come here BECAUSE IT WAS GOD’S WILL! God’s will’s something written in the Bible that happens ’cause God said so.
(MIRIAM is puzzled. She takes her hands off her hips)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
How could anyone believe something written in the Bible tells where MARY’S BABY would be born? It took an ANGEL to explain! Mary said an angel appeared to her AND to Joseph, and told them Mary’s baby was the SON OF GOD, the Savior of the world, the Christ. Because Bethlehem’s where the Bible said Christ would be born, he had to be born here.
(MIRIAM points toward stage left and shakes her head)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
Not in the inn ’cause there was no room.
(MIRIAM motions to where she is standing)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
But in the stable…(pointing off center stage) with all of you. I asked Joseph what was his name. JESUS, Joseph said. (hands up) Of course, Jesus means “Savior.” It was still hard for me to believe that this cute baby, (pointing to the manger) lying in your feeding trough, your manger, WAS THE CHRIST. BUT THEN…
(MIRIAM points stage right)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
SHEPHERDS, your shepherds, CAME…(making pumping motions with her arms) RUNNING IN to see…(pointing toward the manger) JESUS!
(MIRIAM looks ahead)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
You know your shepherds. They don’t get excited about ANYTHING. BUT THEY WERE EXCITED ABOUT THIS BABY…because they also saw angels who told them this baby was the Son of God! How many? The shepherds said THOUSANDS of angels. And they were saying, “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.”
(MIRIAM puts hand to her chin)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
That’s what I also heard coming from here. (waving off) But, of course, animals can’t talk. Or can they tonight?
(MIRIAM takes two steps downstage)
MIRIAM (cont’d)
It’s true. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has come into the world. He’s come to save the world from sin, to open Heaven for all mankind. Since this day’s so special, I’m sure it’ll be celebrated every year at this time. Because it’s the day of Christ’s coming, it’ll be called…(slowly) CHRIST…MAS. Christmas!
Merry Christmas, to all you animals!
(MIRIAM turns, crosses to stage left exit, and exits stage left)
[SFX (as MIRIAM exits and the lights fade to black):
Sound of cows
Sound of sheep
“The Son of God’s been born this day”
“He’s come to save the world from sin”
Sound of chickens
“To open Heaven to all mankind”
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace, good will toward men”
Sound of dogs]
(black out)
END OF PLAY
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Stories of the First Christmas
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