Should take about 12-15 minutes for a narrator to read while actors tell the story with their faces and their bodies. It is written as 3-4 females and 5-6 males. It could be easily adjusted to fit a larger or smaller cast. It begins with Mary and Joseph and then adds the Innkeeper and his wife, shepherds and then Simeon and Anna in the temple. (which could be omitted)
A Christmas Narrative by Warren Sager
8-10 actors and a narrator.
Actors: 4 women: Mary, Innkeeper’s wife, a shepherdess, and Anna
Actors: 5 men: Joseph, Innkeeper, 2 shepherds, and Simeon
Excerpt:
Christmas: A holiday that is celebrated all over the world in many countries and in many different ways. There have been countless traditions that have been carried out for hundreds of years based on many real and imagined events. But the real story of Christmas comes from the name itself. It is about the birth of Christ. And it was about two thousand years ago that this story began….in a place called Nazareth, in a land called Galilee, which is Israel, today.
A young virgin named Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, the carpenter. A very strange and miraculous thing happened to Mary that she had to tell Joseph about.
(Joseph and Mary appear on stage and pantomime the narrative. Mary acts out the visitation of the angel)
She told him that an angel had appeared to her and greeted her and called her the favored one… and “the Lord is with you.” This announcement was very troubling for Mary to hear. She did not understand and wondered what all of this might mean. The angel told her not to be afraid, because she had found favor with God. He told her that she would conceive in her womb and bear a son. She was to name Him Jesus and He would be great, and be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. But Mary had questioned the angel because she was still a virgin. But the angel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. As impossible as this sounded, the angel assured her that nothing is impossible with God. Mary finished her story and nervously waited for Joseph’s response.
This was not something that Joseph could easily believe. He knew it was impossible for a virgin to conceive, so his only thoughts were that she must be lying. He had to make a decision what to do, because if she had become pregnant, then that meant she would be disgraced and cast out, or even killed for her sin. Because he loved her, he decided to put her away secretly and not let anyone know about her condition. But when Joseph slept, an angel appeared to him in a dream to confirm the truth of what she had told him.
(Joseph lies down to sleep)
Joseph told Mary about his dream and how he now believed her story. The angel had told him that they should name the child, Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. So, Joseph took Mary to be his wife, but he kept her a virgin till after the baby was born.
(The couple acts out a wedding by joining hands and perhaps kneeling together and praying to show ceremony. You could have others come in at this point, and then perhaps show some dancing to convey a wedding celebration.)
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