The Birth of Jesus, Seen Through Marty's Eyes

That is not a typo.


Starting this coming Sunday at my church we'll be starting a new rotation -- that's a five or six-week series of Sunday school classes which present the same Bible story through different media each week, from Garden of Eatin' to Holyword Theater to Tent Tales to Noah's Arkade to Creation Station to Parable Playhouse -- and this one leading to Christmas will be about the birth of Jesus as seen through Mary's eyes.



I started to type the play (I write them because I think the www.rotation.org plays available are too simple at best and insulting at worst -- for the kids performing them, not in a sacrilegious way) and my keyboard got stuck; I ended up typing Marty instead of Mary and my focus changed. YES, this play is still going to be about Mary, and she'll be the main character (I'd say Jesus is, but He hadn't been born on Earth yet at the time this production is set in), but how do kids see this today, rather than as just a dusty Bible story?



I'll have more commentary on this tomorrow ... I figure the play should get priority today anyway. I'm leaving you with half of it, going for a Scheherazade effect, that you'll be curious enough to come back Thursday to read the rest. I got to do a lot here for comic effect, I got to break the fourth wall (so characters in the story are AWARE they're characters in a story), and I get to teach something great through some young-at-heart eyes.IGUANA! David

THE BIRTH OF JESUS, SEEN THROUGH MARTY'S EYES

MARTY IGUANA
JOEY
TEACHER
ZECHARIAH, the millionaire
ELISABETH, and his wife
GABRIEL
MARY

MARTY comes from stage right with IGUANA and meets JOEY.

Both are in modern clothes.

MARTY: (to JOEY) Well, here we are!

Say this "EEG-WAH-NUH" fast for maximum effect.

JOEY (looks out at the viewing audience): So we be! Hello everybody!

MARTY (to audience): Welcome to Parable Playhouse, and our story this week is “The Birth of Jesus as Seen Through Marty's Eyes” –

MARTY: Oh.

TEACHER: Our story is “The Birth of Jesus as Seen Through Mary's Eyes” –

JOEY (shrugs his shoulders): But Mary's not here.

IGUANA: Iguana!

JOEY (starts the rhyme): “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece” –

TEACHER (to JOEY): No.

MARTY (starts right after TEACHER says "no"): “Mary, Mary, quite contrary” –

TEACHER (to MARTY): No.

JOEY and MARTY look toward TEACHER in astonishment.

JOEY (quietly): Jesus had a mom?

TEACHER: You have been reading your Bible and listening in church, right?

TEACHER: Well, Mary is Jesus' mom and Joseph --

JOEY (interrupts): Joseph is Jesus' dad and Jesus is also the Son of God! That's it, the end!

Pause, nobody moves.

TEACHER: It's not that easy. Besides, we've still got [TEACHER looks up at the clock or at their watch and says how much time they have left] number of minutes in here. There's more to the story.

TEACHER (to JOEY, MARTY, and rest of class): Yep!

TEACHER leans over to kids in audience.

TEACHER: Six months before Jesus was born ...

ZECHARIAH enters stage left as MARTY and JOEY exeunt -- ok, I'm showing off here, that's the plural form of exit -- and opens and shuts his mouth several times but says nothing.

ELISABETH (to ZECHARIAH): Zechariah? Are you ok?

TEACHER (to class): Ok, we skipped a scene.

ELISABETH puts her hands on her hips in anger.

TEACHER (calls to rest of class): Where's my angel? Where's Gabriel?

GABRIEL hears his name and rushes up to stage behind ZECHARIAH and places his hands on him.

ZECHARIAH (says suddenly): -- AAAAHH! (ELISABETH leans in toward ZECHARIAH but beneath GABRIEL. ZECHARIAH says to ELISABETH) Wait a minute, you hear me?

TEACHER: No, no, NO!

IGUANA (person with puppet sneaks behind ELISABETH from stage right): IGUANA!

ELISABETH (turns and sees IGUANA): EEK!

GABRIEL (official-sounding, almost pompous): And on the ninth day, God created the iguana.

TEACHER (turns to person with MARTY puppet): Marty, get your iguana off the stage -- NOW.

MARTY enters stage right.

MARTY: Iggy! There you are boy! Come on now!

MARTY and IGUANA leave stage right.

TEACHER: Ok, Gabriel, now your line.

GABRIEL (announcing): Zechariah, priest of the Most High God, you and your wife Elisabeth will have a son.

Pause

ZECHARIAH (his mouth drops open): Us? (GABRIEL nods. ZECHARIAH points to ELISABETH) But she's too old --

ELISABETH (glaring): Hey, watch it!

ZECHARIAH (corrects himself): But WE'RE too old --

ELISABETH: Better.

ZECHARIAH: Is that even possible anymore?

GABRIEL (sounding miffed): You should know, Zee ... but to prove it, until John is born YOU won't say another word.

ZECHARIAH (facing stage left as GABRIEL's leaving): What do you -- (and stops speaking. He tries yelling, but no sound comes out of him.)

ELISABETH: Wow, he wasn't kidding.

© 2012 David Alvin

-- CONTINUED THURSDAY --