Nativity play

[ForPoisedLemonScroller]

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?

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?

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

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)

What role did she get?

has to be better than Tree which I once was

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.

When I was a Reception teacher I used to get everyone to learn the lines and most of them were said in unison. It helped when children who had their own lines to say inevitably got chicken pox just before Christmas so another child could step in. I used to talk about the script beforehand and discuss the characters (not many children knew what shepherds were) and then let them choose. It was rarely a problem but if we had too many Marys we put names in a hat. I had boy and girl angels, shepherds and animals.

Yes shes in year 6

An inkeeper, shes over it now but she was a bit dissapointed because evrey year she wanted to be an angel and has always been given smaller roles

Its all about the sparkles ✨

Maybe her innkeeper persona could be all decked out in frosted holly with sparkly tinsel, celebrating some pre-Christian Yule/Mithras rave-up festival when Mary and Joseph amble up with the wee donkey?

I was Mary in my junior school nativity 59 years ago. I can still remember the words I had to say - I was so petrified I'd get them wrong, they're seared into my brain.

A cool rôle might be the awed-into-silence magpie on the roof of the stable (according to the famous painting).
Great opportunity to dress up in black and white like Gene Vincent, as described by Ian Dury!

I was Mary and I had just one job...to turn the torch in the cradle on so it looked like a halo. I cocked it up and was never asked again 🫣

🤣

Last year I got to be a shepherd. We have an adult shepherd costume (I don’t know why or where it came from) and the lead teacher decided to make the naughtiest child a shepherd so I could sit beside him.

This year one of our shyest children is a shepherd (non-speaking) and guess who he’s asked for to sit next to him? If it gets him on stage then ill
do it but really? He couldn’t choose someone else?

Does she want to swap her innkeeper for a shepherd (must be able to make a quick exit stage left with a crying infant should the need arise.)

We did have a few unorthodox animals in the stable, but no magpies 😂

Sorry but I don’t really agree . Being picked for a specific part or main part yes of course you can’t expect that. Every child who wants to participate getting a small line = no harm to anyone and is beneficial for all the children.

I was always “the angel Gabriel” because I had the loudest voice.
I always wanted to be Mary, but that never happened. It sucked.
until one year when we did a totally different version of the nativity story that was a traditional folktale (I can’t remember where from) that had a grandpa telling his grandchildren about the Christmas he spent in the “Imperial palace” as an advisor to the Empress.
I was the Empress. And NOT impressed. I wanted to be the narrator.

You caint always get what you wa-ant . . . .
Mick Jagger, philosopher

You could be this time the posh shepherd from Nazareth who had done an all inclusive holiday at Rome and had come back with a really classy toga or chiton or whatever instead of the homespun outfit.

Write to your MP @ForPoisedLemonScroller It's the only way!

This was me too.
Stupid brown hair.
I got Mary. Cried for weeks. They let me be an angel in the end.
In hindsight, stupid stupid BIG mistake.

in our school nativity the inn keeper was a pretty big part - a few lines and plenty of time on stage. The angels were all together did a dance and shuffled off

Getting some lines is fine, I agree that everyone should get some lines when young, however sounds like the OP's DD is almost a teenager, you can't have 30 mary's so someone is going to be disappointed and more likely tsomeone that is confident and able to cope will get more lines.

My DD is now an elite athlete, constant rejection is the reality, being subbed, not making teams, not making trials, building the necessary skills to cope with situations is really important.

That’s her choice to be an elite athlete. Everyone in the class isn’t forced to attend her training sessions. And I didn’t suggest there should be 30 Mary’s or that everyone should get a main part