The Flint Street Nativity
People's Theatre
23rd November 2021
The nights are drawing in, and it's beginning to feel a bit chilly. The end of November is beckoning and soon December will be upon us bringing with it all those joyous traditions - lights in the windows of shops and homes, trees decorated in the corners of living rooms, Secret Santa shopping, and of course, as every primary teacher knows, the annual celebration of the Christmas Story, the joy that is the class nativity!
Little children dressed as angels and shepherds, wise men and shining stars...An hour of cuteness and adorability to entertain the parents and kindle the Christmas Spirit.
Flint Street School is no different - Miss Horrock's class have been practising hard in readiness for their moment of glory...Here we see Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, The Wise Men, The Inn Keeper, the Donkey and the Star of Bethlehem all beautifully arrayed in their costumes, preparing to perform for their parents. However, it is not all "Peace on Earth" nor "Goodwill to Men" as the personalities of the children (and their parental influences!) are revealed. Playground politics abound and jealous squabbles break out between Mary and Gabriel, and between Gabriel ( the number one angel) and the lesser angels, and the shepherds, and between the Inn Keeper and Joseph. There are moments of peril for Peter Crouch ( the class pet) as the children bicker and dare each other.
As the play proceeds we earn that not everything is quite as it seems, as familiar carols with unfamiliar lyrics reveal that life is not so simple for any of the children, and each one has their own challenge to overcome.
The cast are all adult actors playing the seven year olds and there is always a danger in these things that it won't work, that the experience of adulthood will overshadow and prevent the "children" from being believable. But the cast at People's Theatre have definitely found their inner child, from the moment the play starts we are transported to a classroom full of seven year olds.
Tim Firth's play is a lovely, gentle poke at the Christmas Tradition, but also a revealing glance at the social pressures parent wittingly, and unwittingly place on their children.
If you are looking ofr a little bit od Christmas cheer, but aren't ready for the full on Panto Season just yet, the The Flint Street Nativity is just the thing. Funny, touching, clever and beautifully produced, it will take you back in time - as a parent, or child - to those days of glitter, glue and tea-towels for head dresses.
And if you are, or were, a primary school teacher yourself, it's probably really good therapy!
It runs until 27th November. It's a Christmas Stocking full to the brim with nostalgic surprises and delights! Go see it.
Denise Sparrowhawk
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