Christmas Plays - Branching Out

After a successful two years, the plays started to grow from just retellings of the Christmas story in a different setting, to fully embracing the weird and wonderful ideas of the kids. In 2012, the play went under the ocean for the Christmas Sea Son. A group of kids at a beach reimagine the Christmas story taking place beneath the waves.

I’ll return to 2013, but in 2014 and 2015, due to family obligations, I was unable to be part of the Christmas programs. They used pre-written plays, and were successful, yet the kids wanted to get back to being in charge. So we returned to making our own bespoke plays.

In 2016, the Original Pancake House restaurant opened at 101 and 7, and I learned about the influence that current events can have on the kids’ ideas. They almost unanimously decided to make that the theme, and we had Christmas in a Pancake House. Puns and jokes were poured over every part of the story.

In 2017, after a school trip to Valley Fair late in the season, the theme was Christmas at the Amusement Park. While still packed with jokes, I was most proud of the more visual allusions of the script: the bright light above the park was not a star, but the Bethlehem Ferris Wheel. The Tilt-a-Whirl was stylized as Naz-a-Reth. The wisemen were Tourists full of cash.

Overall, the plays were dropping songs in favor of puns, while keeping to the heart of the Christmas story. One of the years was different, though. I said I would return to 2013, the first year that the kids decided they wanted to write their own story. And so was born Christmas Time.

Set in the far distant future of 2268, as Presentmas nears, two kids see the Mayor travel back in time. Following him, they end up in 2013, where they learn the Christmas story and set right what the Mayor had broken.

One of my favorite jokes is so subtle I doubt anyone noticed it. When the Mayor leaves 2268, he says he’s going back “as far as I can.” 2013 is 255 years in the past, which implies the time machine was built with 8-bit computer parts.

If you’d like to read the full script for Christmas Time, click the link below.