The Flint Street Nativity
Although it seems odd to be thinking about Christmas in August, we are already getting excited about our forthcoming production of The Flint Street Nativity (by Tim Firth). Under the watchful eye of the unseen Miss Horrocks, a class of 7 year olds is about to perform their nativity play for the proud mums and dads – and the occasional social worker. Squabbles arise when Gabriel wants to play Mary, the Star grumbles he’s not a proper star, Herod won’t stop waving to his parents and the subversive Innkeeper is determined to liven up the traditional script. And then the stick insect escapes… Firth captures the general chaos of an infant classroom at Christmas and his study of infant power-politics is ‘less a cute, end-of-term entertainment than a kindergarten version of the Godfather, complete with seething vendettas, emotional blackmail and severed heads’ (Guardian review 2011)
Characters: Adults play children, who then play their own parent, so any age goes!
Mary – Jenny Bennett (F) Bossy, queen of the classroom and general know it all, teacher’s pet. Helpful if she can play the recorder!
Gabriel – Ashley (F) Desperate to be Mary, stroppy, ring leader and usurping classroom troublemaker.
Wise Gold – Jess (F) Mild mannered, controlled by Gabriel – a reluctant minion.
Shepherd – Zoe (F) Blunt and brutally factual – tells it how it is. Farm girl. (Bradley’s twin)
Narrator – Tim (M) Nervous, stoical and insecure, anxious to get it right. Takes his role seriously.
Herod/Joseph – Ryan (M) Obsessed with Question of Sport, doesn’t want to play Joseph
Angel – Shamima (F) Mild mannered, wants to be friends with everyone, controlled by Gabriel, another reluctant minion.
Star – Marcus (M) Space fanatic, obsessed with all things scientific, energetic, talks a lot and with great enthusiasm.
Innkeeper – Bradley (M) Subversive, grumpy, and at times menacing, like something from a Hitchcock film (Zoe’s twin)
Wise Frankincense – Adrian (M) New to the class, slightly posher than the rest. Very self conscious of his lisp.
Ass – Harry (M) Shabby and shouty – wears donkey head throughout
Dates for your diary:
Sunday 10th September 2:30pm: Info and read through: A brief chat about the play and a chance to have a bit of a read (not the whole thing!)
Wednesday 20th September 7:30pm: Auditions: Some group scenes some individual pieces. (Audition pieces below)
Sunday 24th September 2:30pm: Singing Audition: I use this term loosely! Singing of carols is required by all. You don’t have to be a great singer, but you do need to have the confidence to sing alone and sing a completely different set of lyrics to that which everyone else is singing!
Production Dates – 6th – 9th December – (You will also need to be available on the 10th for the ‘get out’.)
Scripts available from Becs (Director) or Trace (Production Assistant) (becslindleys@gmail.com or tracyparvin@gmail.com)