Respect of Religion
This show takes place mostly in a church and centers around a Christian Christmas pageant. At PCT we respect whatever religious beliefs you may or may not have and believe in your constitutional right to have those. With that we ask that you give the same respect to this show and be receptive to what the story is saying. We will make sure that we are respectful to the Christian faith while telling this story, while also using it to help craft our narrative.
Dramaturgical Discussion
In 1972 Barbara Robinson wrote the short novel titled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever that told the tale of the Herdman siblings: six trouble-making kids who end up taking every starring role in a church Christmas pageant, despite only showing up to Sunday school because they heard about the snacks. The Herdmans are initially the antagonists of the story as they are the group of bullies that torment local children but as we learn more about them as characters we realise their troubled home life is the reason they act out. In the book, Robinson writes how their father left shortly after Gladys was born and that their mom has to work almost around the clock just to get by. Childhood poverty and neglect are incredibly traumatic and can impact behaviors with others. We see the other characters in this play, both children and adults alike, learn to have new found empathy for the Herdman children and learn that they are not that unlike them, just rougher round the edges because their life is rough around the edges.
“Jesus said ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me,’ but I’m not sure he meant the Herdmans” (Robinson, pg 28). Imagine you are one of the Herdman kids; this is probably the first extracurricular activity you have ever gotten to do, the most attention you may have ever gotten from an adult who is not from CPS, and you actively have Mrs. Bradley rooting for you to be in this pageant, only for the minister to say Jesus wasn’t talking about you and the pageant you worked so hard on should be canceled. The entire verse comes from the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Book of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 14 “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (KJV). “Forbid them not” and yet it doesn’t apply to the Herdman kids. Most of the adults are skeptical and insist that the Herdmans shouldn’t have their roles in the pageant because they don’t “embody the qualities” of these biblical figures, but I think that depends on which qualities you're looking for. The Herdman children are in a strange new place where they are not welcome and told “there is no room for them”, struggling with poverty and hunger and they’re messy; just like Mary and Joseph when they arrived at the inn. Having the Herdmans portray these figures reminds everyone of the harsh reality that was the night of the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph were cold, alone and probably scared, but the love of their child and knowledge that their child was their savior allowed them, and us, to forget all of that.
Today we invite you to reflect on these words and think to the Christmas pageants you used to do, maybe still do; remind yourself of your first one. Ponder back to the first time you heard the Christmas story and then think of all the times you also groaned hearing the story told year after year. How quick are we to get caught up in the spectacle of the savior's joyous arrival that we forget the humble origins of his birth? Today while you enjoy our show we ask that you remember not just to rejoice for the savior but to celebrate the baby that was born and laid in a manger because there was no room for him at the inn.
