Form 2 Christmas Performance from John Scottus on Vimeo.
Friday, 20 December 2013
Mrs T Contemplates Childrens Christmas Plays
Christmas performances are unique events
and although nearly as old as the original itself year on year something fresh
emerges. 2013 is no exception.
I have only got to see a selection of
offerings. Time and an unusual bust of interest in places in JSS for 2014 have
taken me off the circuit but as Kavanagh muses “Through
a chink too wide there comes in no wonder” My
chink was narrow and I think I got a view of the “spirit shocking wonder” and "the
newness that was in every stale thin"
The youngest got the show on the road with
simple seasonal poems but the wonder of this one was the capacity for language
displayed. In less than 5 months in school they had sufficient command of 4
languages to sing songs, do recitations and perform little playlets. I saw
another dimension of the concept of Universality. We adults talk about living
in the global world. For these 5 year olds it is the reality and they embrace
it with staggering ease and charm.
The snippet I witnessed of the 6 year olds
was marked by speech. They had definitely got the message of opening the mouth
and pronouncing the ends of each word. They transformed the joke-telling scene
by the way they told’ em. “What do monkeys say on Christmas morning ? Jungle Bells,
Jungle Bells”; every word as clear as crystal despite half of them collapsing
with the wit of it all even before the joke was finished.
From the oldest in this building came the
sweetest revelation. I was lucky to see the whole novel take on Christmas from
beginning to end. It was excellent; acting, scenery, music, dancing
choreography, organization. But wonderful as this was, the element that took my
breath away was a more subtle aspect of the children. There were a few rare
moments when one of them was unsure of a line. No fuss, no panic, no
embarrassment, just a direct look at teacher, a nod of the head, a brief Oh
Yeah and then on with the show. Again in these cramped beleaguered conditions
where there is no room, a spiritual ideal is realized and made manifest , this
world is all a play, enjoy it, play your part to the full, help each other and
then forget it.
This is the newness and spirit shocking
wonder that was revealed by the Christmas performances of 2013. Wasn’t I lucky
and wouldn’t the Centre of it all be pleased?! Form 2 Girls performance is
available here and more will be posted as we get the videos
Mrs T
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