Page 2 | Nativity play

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 2025-11-20T16:17:24+00:00

So my daughter came home really upset for not getting cast as angel one in the school play after weeks of practicing the lines should i email the school or AIBU?

SpanielLover356 · 21/11/2025 14:41

I often wonder who the nativity play is for - parents or the children? Why can't they have all the children who want to be angels being angels? They can say the lines together or increase the script so they all get a chance to shine?

My father as a retired drama teacher & governor of the local primary school was asked to produce the nativity play. He had about 8 Marys, 5 Josephs, many more than 3 wise men changing actors with every scene. They also had a couple of Spidermen and several Disney Princesses. If it's for the children why not? They included scenes that are not traditional so that every child was able to get their chance to say some lines. It became a tradition that parents and children loved.

ohyesido · 21/11/2025 14:26

What role did she get?

has to be better than Tree which I once was

FunnyOrca · 21/11/2025 14:24

Maddy70 · 20/11/2025 17:19

Every single child wants to be Mary or Joseph that's life

Last year I actually asked my class what they wanted to be and ended up with an over abundance of stable cats, 2 Marys (one of whom changed her mind when she saw the angel costume) and I had to talk a child into being Joseph by saying he could also carry a stuffed sheep.

I’ve only had a couple of children over the past few years who go to church and know that Mary and Joseph are the lead roles. Mostly they want to be animals, carry animals or wear sparkles (kings and angels)

ThejoyofNC · 21/11/2025 14:24

OMG you should deffo complain to the head OP. How DARE they upset your little angel one 😡

AlohaRose · 21/11/2025 14:21

How did she even have access to the script to learn all the lines without the parts already having been allocated? Did the teacher just give out the entire script to everyone in advance of deciding the parts? Did anyone else in the class learn random parts that they fancied playing?

VickyEadieofThigh · 21/11/2025 14:16

RecordBreakers · 20/11/2025 22:08

What does this mean ?

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It means the thread is a poor effort at a wind-up.

VickyEadieofThigh · 21/11/2025 14:14

BlueMum16 · 20/11/2025 20:52

Tween?
I thought this was about an infant child.

Tell her to get over it and learn the lines for the part she's been given.

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The OP just jumped the shark with the "tween" bit. Absolute nonsense.

purpleme12 · 21/11/2025 14:11

Anonna123 · 21/11/2025 14:06

I assume it's because this is a made up post and OP isn't actually sure on the age of Nativity kids lol. Because as far as I know, nativities don't have lines that kids practice weeks ahead of time, before even being given the parts 😅

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Probably!

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 21/11/2025 14:08

If she’s a tween then I’m surprised she’s doing a nativity.

Millytante · 21/11/2025 14:06

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/11/2025 13:26

So did I.

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What the hell? Oh my God, definitely pictured a little kiddie à la Snoopy/Charlie Brown type. Bit much in a considerably older child.

OP, whip out your copy of Let It Bleed and play her the inimitable ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’.
(Nice Bach choir on the track, for the season !)

Anonna123 · 21/11/2025 14:06

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/11/2025 13:26

So did I.

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I assume it's because this is a made up post and OP isn't actually sure on the age of Nativity kids lol. Because as far as I know, nativities don't have lines that kids practice weeks ahead of time, before even being given the parts 😅

Millytante · 21/11/2025 14:02

Excuse typo please. ‘Leopardskin’, obvs

Original poster

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 21/11/2025 13:52

🤣

OP posts:

Millytante · 21/11/2025 13:50

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 20/11/2025 20:21

I dont know exactly i think they gave her some hope and headteacher said she would be a good angel one, i decided i wont email them and she told me please dont because she will be embarrassed but i just got so sad seeing her break her lil heart ♥️ her ranting about it was quite humorous and cute though lol

Angels do not rant! Tell her to wait until she can play Saint Michael in another play, they she can do some smiting!

Could the innkeeper be Bet Lynch? Kit the kid out in ancient Palestinian lepoardskin!

Seriously though your great mistake was sending her to school with a hand knitted Rudolph jumper saying🌲 ‘Satan’s favourite reindeer’ 🤶🏻🦌 Oops

DramaAlpaca · 21/11/2025 13:37

I was Mary, my mother was thrilled.

I threw a spanner in the works, though, because apparently it was my job to bring in a doll to play Baby Jesus but nobody had told six year old me that, so I didn't. Ooops.

jbm16 · 21/11/2025 13:31

TheIceBear · 20/11/2025 20:59

I wouldn’t email the school no way. I do think it’s unfair in schools the way some kids always get the best parts in plays and others never get lines. When I was a kid the loud confident ones always got the main parts and quiet kids often were just in the background saying nothing (myself included!). How are they supported to gain confidence when this happens? A friend of mine is a primary teacher and she always made sure every child in the class had 1 short line in her school play which I thought was a really fair way of doing it. If my child never got any lines to say year after year I might consider saying something. However I think expecting a child to get a specific part is completely unreasonable.

That's life though, and better to get used to it early and build some resilience, not everyone is good at sport, or selected for the first team...

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/11/2025 13:26

AlltheHedgehogsontheWall · 20/11/2025 20:57

Tween stage? I assumed she was 4 based on this thread...

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So did I.

Original poster

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 21/11/2025 13:21

No they don’t have many lines i think she just really thought she was gonna get cast as that for some reason; oh well she seems to have got over it now but she was really crying i felt bad, i said well
we can make the inkeeper look just as cool dont worry lol

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GehenSieweiter · 21/11/2025 07:44

Yesimmoaningaboutbenefits · 20/11/2025 23:26

The narrators are usually the most articulate children though. Parents actually need to hear them to get the gist of the wacky and wonderful story line that somehow works aliens/cowboys/time travellers into the Nativity story.

Everyone knows Gabriel says, "You're going to have a baby!" And the innkeeper say, "Sorry, no room."
Narrators are the most important.

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DS had various parts along the way, was a Joseph at a non-school thing, was a narrator more than once at school stuff. We also didn't force him to go to the evening shows of a play he repeatedly said he'd rather do behind the scenes stuff for. There was far too much time wasted on drama at DSs primary, so much so that they routinely missed other important lessons.

Yesimmoaningaboutbenefits · 20/11/2025 23:26

Keroppi · 20/11/2025 21:01

I thought the angels bar Gabriel had almost no lines and were just filler roles. A step above the barn animals though
I remember my DS fuming in reception because he was chosen to be a narrator along with a few others. He wanted a costume! I do think the narrators are a bit boring tbh. I had to bribe him to see him through 🙈

My older DD did a different nativity called the Grumpy Sheep - she was the titular character! Lots of foot/hoof stomping. It was all the teachers remembered her for throughout infants..

The narrators are usually the most articulate children though. Parents actually need to hear them to get the gist of the wacky and wonderful story line that somehow works aliens/cowboys/time travellers into the Nativity story.

Everyone knows Gabriel says, "You're going to have a baby!" And the innkeeper say, "Sorry, no room."
Narrators are the most important.

Coffeeandbooks88 · 20/11/2025 22:21

My daughter cried and didn't want to do it at all.

Original poster

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 20/11/2025 22:16

🤣

OP posts:

Original poster

ForPoisedLemonScroller · 20/11/2025 22:15

Like devastated

OP posts:

RecordBreakers · 20/11/2025 22:14

BarnacleBeasley · 20/11/2025 21:01

I was a dog in the nativity play in top infants, the only role for which there was actually an audition. It turned out I was the only child in the class who could bark. I'm still quite proud of this.

DoubleYellows · 20/11/2025 22:13

Bedtelly · 20/11/2025 20:21

God, I was an Ox or a donkey every year. Never Mary, sodding Abigail Whelan. I'll never forgive her.

Oh, kids never want the part they get. DS aged five was absolutely outraged at being ‘the wrong sheep’.