Nativity Plays- What happened to King Herod?

[FirstFallopians]

I’ve seen two nativity plays this year thanks to DC and my niece, and just realised the absence of King Herod in both.

When I was growing up( NI, 1990s) there was ALWAYS a kid playing King Herod at the start of the story, teeing up why Mary and Joseph were traipsing across the country when she was about to have a baby.

Is there a reason he doesn’t seem to be included anymore?

This isn’t a serious thread, I’m just mulling over the differences!

Jason Manford does a thing at gigs 'Assembly Bangers' where he plays and everyone sings along... it's all the 'classic' 80s assembly songs! It's brilliantly nostalgic and you realise you still know all the words.

Everyone join in: Sing hosanna, sing.... 😂

Herod isn't in the nativity story.

No doubt because the fussy precious mums would go ape shit if their darling child got cast as a biblical terrorist.

shame really. I know lots of funny little boys who would do great in that role if we made him a daredevil baddie.

35 years since I was doing nativity plays and never once was King Herod involved in the story of the birth of Jesus.

In the eighties I was in a school play that went proper mind-bending meta. It was the characters from nursery rhymes all getting together at Christmas to put on a nativity play for the other nursery rhyme characters. Utterly batshit. The year my sister was in it it was a retelling of A Christmas Carol with modern kids but Scrooge is the ghost rather than Marley (or something). The headmaster gave himself the star parts always; he was marvellously camp, theatrical and totally mad. He had a wife and children but many years later came out and lived with another theatrical type fella and they had dogs called Dorothy and ToTo. He's dead now but he wrote the best, insane Christmas plays and I was incredibly fond of him. I always think of them at this time of year.

There was a Herod in my son's nativity this year with a super catchy 'I'm the king!' Song. Herod was played by the smallest girl in the class and she aced it. Was so good.

There also weren't any innkeepers or donkeys in the Bible accounts but they regularly pop up in school performances.

They might not be explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but they're in the story by implication - Mary was unlikely to have walked all the way to Bethlehem at 9 months pregnant, so a donkey was pretty likely to have been called on. And the Bible makes it pretty clear that 'there was no room for them at the inn', so you would imagine they probably did ask the innkeeper if they had a room. And someone (presumably the innkeeper) told them they could go in the stable.

And as for Herod not being part of the nativity - if Herod hadn't told them to go to Bethlehem, the 3 Wise Men wouldn't be in the story either, so he's a pretty integral part really. The part about him wanting to kill all the babies (to weed out the rival King) and the Wise Men going home a different way to avoid him is easily left out, as the story comes to a natural pause after they've offered their gifts.

Are you mixing him up with Augustus Caesar @FirstFallopians?

It always surprises me that the star is so prominently put in the nativity scene. It was that star that the astrologers followed after being told by Herod to find Jesus, to ultimately have him killed. Hardly a "good" star leading them to the baby on the order of an evil king, yet there it is in the scene as if it is a good thing.

But then Jesus was not new born, he was living in a house in Jerusalem by the time the astrologers had travelled hundred of miles to get there, so very little of the nativity scene is accurate anyway I suppose

I was Herod in my primary school nativity play in the early 1980s! I only remember that I got to wear a red cape, which was pretty exciting.

I was at i primary school in the 1970s/early 80s. Pretty sure we had a Herod, but my overriding memory is a 10 year old girl walking down the aisle of the school church, dressed in a polyester nighty, head full of hairspray , with a homemade wire headress holding lit candles precariously balanced on her head.

Yes he is. Have a read of Matthew 2

Edited: sorry, that was meant to be a reply to the "Herod isn't in the nativity" comment above

Anyone got round to Nebuchadnezzar yet? Didn't he make a late appearance? Please correct me if you know better.

Mary
Joseph
Angels
Shepherds
Inn keepers
Donkey
Wise (men, people) or Kings
Sheep
Baby Jesus

Are the standard cast of nativities through the many I have had to sit through

Sometimes supplemented with aliens, animals, snowflakes, Santa, Roman soldiers etc if additional parts are needed.

I have never come across a performing King Herod outside of a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar

My son was King Herod in his nursery play this year, they even sang a song about him - he was delighted!

Although this one is very catchy (Easter, not Nativity.

If they can make Sweeney Todd a musical I think there’s probably hope for Herod yet

To be fair he killed far fewer people than God.

King Herod in my DD's Nativity on Wednesday was absolutely brilliant, complete with comedy evil laugh! No overt mention of killing babies, just that he wanted informing so he could dramatic pause worship him evil laugh.

He appeared in our kids one this year. Just towards the end, very cross about a new king. The Angels sent a group text and they warned Mary and Joseph to go home a different way. The end.

I think you might have misunderstood something along the way, here. The star did not tell anyone anything. It is a star. It twinkles in the sky. Whatever interpretation is put onto that is made by humans for humans. The stars continue regardless!

My DS was Herod in his nativity this year. He had lots of fun stomping around the stage with his hands on his hips shouting at everyone

I don't know those things either and I'm 30+.

Our school's nativity play had a fantastic Caesar Augustus this year, he really hammed it up complete with pantomime boos from the chorus, was excellent!

King Herod stole the show in my son's nativity this week.