How do teachers decide which child plays which role in a play/nativity?

[Gingerbready]

Just as above

In a nativity play?

Last infant play I cast had a sheep as the lead. Anything is possible

Might not be a nativity but who cares really, the casting process is essentially the same.

@Tiquismiquis

Can I ask the teachers here, I’ve got a child that was really upset not to be given a part. I’ve not wanted to be ‘that parent’ so haven’t mentioned it but should I have done? She’s well behaved, speaks nicely etc and I was quite sad to see her sad as I know she’d have tried really hard. She noticed that the girls that got parts are all 5 and she’s not. It’s not the first time she’s noticed a gap between the autumn born girls and I really hope it’s not the start of things to come as I don’t want her confidence being dented.

As in talking to the school? I don't see what you could have done, they're not going to take a role off the other kids. There will be all kinds of factors going into the casting decision that you aren't privy to and at the end of the day, those girls may have been more suited to the role. I've certainly never taken age into account when casting.

It's horrible when kids are disappointed though but I would just comfort your dd and encourage her to perform her role to the best of her ability.

@camelfinger

I have a theory that it’s the autumn born children. I think they are the most confident being the eldest and being chosen to do things like this builds their confidence further.

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he is very keen on this theory!

Mmm one wonders

Especially when one or two get the star role every year

@camelfinger

I have a theory that it’s the autumn born children. I think they are the most confident being the eldest and being chosen to do things like this builds their confidence further.

January kid here. Innkeeper, Narrator, Victorian Male Impersonator with a solo turn, and then (to my amazement, but I wasn't going to knock it) main lead and never off stage for the play/musical in Year 6.

Never got Gabriel, Angel or Mary, though. They were strictly for the tallest boy and blonde girls who didn't like speaking in public, respectively.

DD1, an Autumn kid, got stars and angels. Spent her time standing as far away from everybody as possible, saying nothing, singing nothing, doing nothing, just standing there with a blank expression. (Not a criticism, her thing was dance).

DD2, a summer kid, got third shepherd on the right at the back as she couldn't be trusted anywhere else four years in a row, then in Year 6, got to utterly knock it out of the park as Iago the Parrot, complete with ridiculous feather costume moulting slightly down the aisle and all over the stage.

So, in my opinion, it's the slightly gobby ones that can memorise stuff and don't worry too much about what others think of them (me and DD2), the Saturday Theatre School kids, the ones who can be relied upon to stand there looking pretty/beatific and then everybody else.

I have a theory that it’s the autumn born children. I think they are the most confident being the eldest and being chosen to do things like this builds their confidence further.

Not always. I was always the youngest in the class, but I was often cast as a narrator, because I was a good reader and I spoke clearly, so people could hear what I was saying.

DD got narrator parts, probably because she could read clearly whatever was put in front of her. DD was fine but Half her class was out with chickenpox at some point in rehearsal/performance period.

middle DS (summer birthday) was a miscreant in class but could behave if he had a purpose; he got minor speaking comedy roles, maybe because he was fearless about the audience and good sense of timing in how he delivered his lines.

Can't remember what other DSs did. Youngest likes to take part. None of mine ever had complicated costumes. I think the teachers understood me well, there.

This year was a bit different so I just asked them which parts they wanted and we were a bit flexible about numbers of each character to accommodate it.

Generally the parts go to a combination of:

Well behaved enough not to be a pain in rehearsals.
Confident enough to deliver lines so people will hear it.
Able to learn multiple lines (having a parents willing to help them at home helps a bit)
Wants to do the part.
Has good attendance so they won't disappear for half the rehearsals or the actual performance.

We do try to be fair and give everybody a chance at something but with limited time it can be difficult to coax a very shy child into delivering lines or to spend huge amounts of time helping children learn lines..... I wish this was different, I love to see the overlooked children blossom.

1. Ask who wants a speaking part
2. Think about who will learn the lines. In KS1 it will usually need to be the more confident readers.

By KS2, we do auditions for plays, although everyone who wants a line gets one.

Both my kids have always played donkeys 🤪 one summer born one September born. I will need to provide counselling at this rate as another 2 years at least of nativity!

@camelfinger

I have a theory that it’s the autumn born children. I think they are the most confident being the eldest and being chosen to do things like this builds their confidence further.

It's one of the reasons that Summer born children are disadvantaged compared to Autumn born children, and that persists throughout their education. Autumn born children are bigger, more confident etc and are always picked for parts in plays, sports teams and therefore have more practice.

It's all a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy from the word go - the kids that are confident get the big parts, become more confident and then next year, they get picked again, etc etc.

I mean, really who gives a shit if Joseph is too scared to speak in a reception nativity.

I imagine Joseph would. That’s why he’s not given the part. It’s not production values it’s protecting small children from being scared in public!

In Reception I used to ask children what they wanted to do and worked it out from there. If too many wanted the same part I put names in a hat or they shared the role over two performances. I also tried to get all the children to learn all the words because there was there was often an outbreak of chicken pox or vomiting bug before Christmas. I did this by using the play script as the basis of my literacy lessons in the few weeks before hand. That way there was always someone who could step into a part if necessary. Narrators were the children that could say the words clearly enough, sometimes the children spoke in unison or teachers or TAs narrated parts. It varied from year to year according to what the children could do or wanted to do.

who gives a shit if Joseph is too scared to speak in a reception nativity

Mary or the innkeeper or the innkeeper's wife, who are waiting for Joseph to say his line, so they can say theirs?

Well my DC are December and May. One alpha, one quiet. They got picked for everything and it was jolly embarrassing. I think it was because they could both sing. The quiet one in particular loved the stage and kept up her singing. I am sorry, I did once ask if they could have little parts and the music teacher sighed, gave me a pained look and said "but they are my best singers". I am sorry and it got embarrassing and I could hear mothers hissing.

But there are kids who really really want a part who aren't given a chance as this thread shows because teachers have already decided who is going to have the big parts

I have no skin in the game here - I have teenagers and this wasn't an issue for my kids because they never wanted to do it. But I think loads of kids do but aren't picked

As a primary school teacher for a number of years it is always a combination of factors: the children's wishes, attendance, reading ability, confidence, likelihood of parental support (to help learn the lines), ability to dance/sing (if required) and performance in an audition for Key Stage 2 classes. I also always ask the previous year group teachers who had the starring role last year (or in previous years) to ensure that someone else gets a chance. I don't always get it right but it is frustrating when a child is rarely in school leading up to a performance or who has had no support learning the lines at home and the whole ensemble has to listen to them being coached through it because they've had no help at home. Putting on a nativity rarely makes all parents happy.

Our school performs every play twice, so would always cast two children in each main part, then arrange for one to take the lead at one performance and the other at the other performance. (They have a non-speaking part or are the choir when not playing a main part.)
So long as parents know who is performing when, they can get tickets for the right show.

This has the advantages that twice as many children get main parts, and they understudy each other so can step straight in without additional coaching or costume-fitting a lead is off on the day of the performance.

Whoever the teachers want. Same kids every year- they are usually in a dance studio one of them runs, or the kids who are consistently mentioned in newsletters/ have elected roles in the school.

My DD told me she got her part because the teacher said she has a loud voice. The teacher isn’t wrong.

Certainly in the 90s being white helped. Blonde = angel dark skinned= animal part. Also an autumn birthday.

"Whoever the teachers want. Same kids every year- they are usually in a dance studio one of them runs, or the kids who are consistently mentioned in newsletters/ have elected roles in the school."

Crikey, that doesn't sound great. Glad it's not my experience.

I choose based on what parents I like and which ones piss me off!

As @Popgoesthebubble says, it's a combination of factors:
Children happy to be on stage and confident to perform.
Chdn who can project their voices.
Chdn who can remember lines.
Chdn who have not previously had a major part.
Chdn who could have their confidence built by having a main part (we don't always get this right)
Chdn who are happy to sing in front of an audience and will do it well enough so adults won't laugh (which sadly happens)
With the exception of the main character, we try to balance length of time on stage and good costumes against key roles. So you might be a sheep with an important line, but non-speaking sheep will be on stage longer and maybe have a dance.
I remember a mum complaining her daughter had 'never once been Mary' when she was in Y2 (and therefore had only missed two previous opportunities to be Mary, as had 117 of her fellow infants). We gave her the role of inn-keeper's wife and she refused to go òn stage on the day.