Nativities - how are parts chosen?

[SteppedOnTheLego]

As the title suggests - how do kids nativity parts get chosen? When I was a kid, it was always the kindest, best behaved girl in the class who was rewarded with the coveted part of Mary, whereas the part of Joseph went to the most outgoing boy who didn’t mind having several lines but wasn’t necessarily the nicest boy, kids who were studious were narrators, the ones who’s attendance couldn’t be relied upon were carol singers etc……for reference I was cast as a bell ringer 😂
But can any primary teachers shed any light……how do they choose which kid has which part?! What are the requirements for a Mary, a Joseph, one of the Three Kings etc?!

I’m thinking the nativity in question might have been Hey Ewe! which I had the pleasure of watching a few years ago 😆

Our nativity is Y2.

The main parts were narrators and animals, Mary and Joseph didn't speak. The biggest part was the donkey - they girl who played the donkey was the most confident and bright I think.

She walked on and said the first line of the play, it was a jokey one and all the parents laughed. She burst into tears, then one by one the whole class just started crying! Every time it was someone else's line they would stand up and start bawling!

They ran the performance the next day but most of the kids wouldn't even get on stage and a lot of them were kept off school after the trauma of the day before.

They haven't done a nativity in the 2 years following, just invite parents come and sing Christmas carols. I think the poor teacher is scarred for life!

Has anyone mentioned the Innkeeper yet?
They always have to have mega charisma. Same with the donkey.

Ones who may be terrified or find it too overwhelming get to be in the band. They get shakers and little drummer kits, they love it.

@LindyLou2020 she sounds like she has classic charismatic innkeeper vibes - I wish she'd been in my class, I'd love to have cast her!!

SpideyMum22
I was cast as the slave who had to walk behind one of the kings carrying their gift. It was only years later as an adult that I realized the only two other non- white children in my class were also slaves (I have brown skin) and I worked out how they cast the parts. I spent a lot of my early childhood wishing I could be blonde so I could play an angel. Thank goodness things have moved on since the 80s!

Oh my god! Even in the 1980s this shouldn’t have been acceptable 😕

I saw a local dance show my niece was in a few years ago. They'd cast the only non-white children from the school as native Africans with grass skirts, spears and things around their ankles, and dancing to drums. They also had other people using deep fake tan to represent other continents. It was shocking. A dreadful ignorant school stuck in the dark ages.

Apparently they do similar stereotypes when giving competition solos, but nobody speaks out for fear of rocking the boat with the school owner who isn't the brightest. Shame on them really.

So it does go on, though it should not.

When DD was at nursery, eldest girl was Mary and eldest boy was Joseph. She got to be Mary!

The confident attention grabbing dancy kid
Gets a small part so shy and quiet little angelic girls can shine

Surely it just depends on whose mum is most active and vocal on the PTA? That's then Joseph/Mary. Dem's the rules.

In my school the blonde girls were always the angles and the brunettes were in inn keepers wives.

First off - who hasn’t had a big part before (or for several years)? If someone has had a main part in the Christmas or summer plays within the last year or so, it’s a definite no.

Then - do they want a big part? I let them request tiny parts, and I also hold “have a go sessions” where kids who would be happy to have a solo get to come and have a go in front of the other kids who want one. I make it very clear it’s not an audition. It is literally just saying you would like a solo so I’m not giving it to someone who doesn’t want one, and it shows they can sing in front of a group.

Can they remember their lines? I have done plays where the main part has had 50 lines. Fuck knows how they remember them honestly.

I try to play to everyone’s strengths and give everyone a go if they want it. I also try to have at least one wild card and it always ends up being great.

Guaranteed I’ll always get at least one complaint though 😂

I am still resentful that I was cast as Mary in infant school until the music teacher pulled me to play glockenspiel as I was the only kid who could read music well and reliably play in time 😂

My DC always got the parts with the most complicated costumes in primary plays and assemblies because I could be relied upon to sew a crinoline dress or fashion Tutenkhamun's mask from papier mache (one of their teacher's actually told me this)😂

Depends:
Dc's nativity at preschool was strictly age. Mary was oldest girl, next oldest was star, next oldest was lead angel. Next six were angels, any left were sheep. Boys were similar.

In year 2 they asked the dc which part they wanted and any where there was only one part they drew out of a hat and the remaining dc could choose which to be of the remaining parts. You'd be surprised which parts were the most popular. In ds' year it was the (non-speaking) donkey. He got the part and was very pleased. They did two shows, and the main parts were cast twice and the second show they could choose a different part (if they had a main part, then they could only be choir/angels/shepherd for the second one)

Guaranteed I’ll always get at least one complaint though 😂
oh yes, always at least one. Teachers really can’t win and get it right, someone will always complain.
”I couldn’t see my child/angel because she was near the back”
” Why did my child/shepherd not have a costume that fitted him?”
But, predictably the main complaint every year
” why didn’t you choose my child to be Mary?”

I can think of loads of different ways I used to decide. Mary might be a girl who needed a confidence boost. Joseph might be a boy who is often over looked. Angels would children who would enjoy it the most. Lots of nativities these days might have mary and Joseph as characters without lines anyway.

My DC is in reception and the teacher asked all the kids whether they wanted a speaking part or not. DC is very shy and anxious about prospect of being on a stage and asked for a non-speaking part. We are told she is an 'animal'. I'm sure watching will be riveting...

Do parents actually complain if their child isn’t Mary? Really? Why? Especially if for most nativities Mary isn’t a speaking part. For my kids nativity, Mary and Joseph have the most lines other than the narrators.
The girl that’s been chosen as Mary is a really sweet little girl, friendly and sweet but as many have said seems a little timid, whereas Joseph is…….the son of a teacher at the school 😂👍🏻

Mine is now is year 2.. he's been a sheep and a king twice ( this year is his 2nd year). He's quite happy with that and tbh, I don't care. 😆

I think he's a king again as last year he picked up a line as his wee pal got some stage fright so he said his.

It's still " awwwww" inducing. No matter what part they have, it's cute!

Feel a bit sorry for Joseph... always going to be judged as teachers kid rather than if he was the most suitable

Our preschoolers always do an Xmas play. I love that in November we can barely believe they will be capable of it and yet on the day they are always amazing, even with the expected mishaps!

We pick the most confident, compliant children for the few speaking/acting parts. The wriggly ones or ones likely to be overwhelmed will be close to staff on the day. Quite often children you expect to be more confident are the ones that get overwhelmed (although so far never the ones doing main parts thank goodness). It is one of my favorite parts of the year in my job and I'm always amazed how well 3yo can do when its expected of them.

This is absolutely awful. I can't believe this kind of thing is going on. It certainly wouldn't have been acceptable in the 80s either.

I had a parent threaten to kick off if her daughter wasn't at the front of the angels. Apparently in the first performance she had been partly obscured by another girl who this mother described in very unflattering terms. The angels were supposed to be in a straight line anyway but were bound to move around a bit while they were singing so I politely said I couldn't guarantee it and she became quite abusive. I made sure the male Deputy Head sat next to her and everything went smoothly.

...angels for fair haired girls and dark haired girls wore sort of Princess Jasmine outfits and "assisted" the Kings.

This has terrible implications tbh, and would disproportionately exclude many non-white children from playing angels.

Yes this is terrible.

@Dabralor
Years ago, a friend told me about her son's Nativity play, in which he played the final innkeeper. Instead of saying he had no room, but Joseph and Mary could bed down in the stable, he said something like, "sorry, no room here", and closed the door on them.
End of play.
Of course, there was a rescue mission and a satifactory ending was cobbled together. People were trying to look concerned and wanting to help, whilst truthfully trying to stop weeing themselves with laughter!

That's terrible. So the taller you were the more you got the key roles? That's completely unacceptable. Poor short kids relegated to the 'chorus' with no opportunity to shine simply because they were short. Who thought that was fair?