Shadows of Christmas Present

 Yesterday at our church we had our Christmas program.  This year the program director and her assistant, the youth director, get mad props for organizing a production of three acts where adults on down to a couple of little bitty shavers took part, none of them had lines to memorize, and it was very moving.

It was all either narrated or sung whilst the actors mimed it all out.  The first act was in one of the Sunday School rooms and involved adults acting out the part of Mary, Joseph and an angel.  Second act was in the next Sunday School room and involved an angel, shepherds and wise men.  The audience was funneled, 15 people at a time, from room to room, then back to the main auditorium where they did Christmas trivia until everyone had seen the first 2 acts.  Except me, because I was the hall usher, directing the flow of traffic from one room to the other.  I am familiar with the gist of the story, so I was content with the final act.  

In the main auditorium Cody, one of our resident musicians, sang the Christmas-y version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," whilst the actors acted it out behind the curtain.  Except it was all silhouettes; shadows on a curtain.  They all did such an awesome job.

Mary and Joseph:

The shepherds with the angel:

The Nativity:

The final destiny:

It all went swimmingly.  Everyone remembered their positions and did a great job.  There was one thing that tickled me, however, and it was a good thing I was on the very back bench.  I didn't get it caught on camera, but they had cutouts of sheep for the shepherds and of the donkey Mary was riding as they traveled to Bethlehem.  Mary's unfortunate donkey resembled nothing so much as a life-sized coyote with a pointy muzzle and ears and, having thought that, I was suddenly seized with a fit of giggles.  Ellen managed to quell me with a glance, so I didn't embarrass myself too much.  

It was a great program.