FACILITY DRILL

Blog - 2015 - December

Christmas Nativities

PDF Date: 6 February 2020

Images & Text © Beryl L Pratt

https://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk

https://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand-reading.org.uk

https://long-live-pitmans-shorthand.blogspot.com

https://pitmans-snippets.blogspot.com

Christmas Nativities

The year is 1964 and Christmas is a fewweeks away. I was practising my fleetingrole in the primary school Nativity play,as one of the host of angels appearing tothe shepherds in the fields. The headangel had delivered the message of thebirth of the Saviour in Bethlehem. Wewere waiting for our musical cue to leavethe stage and return to the place whencewe came and this was Bach’s Toccataand Fugue in D Minor, which begins withseveral very dramatic chunks of soundwith short pauses between, in themanner of an important announcement.With each chunk, the backmost row ofangels turned and rushed off the stage,and this was repeated until all four rowshad gone. No doubt the loud organ musicdrowned out the sound of our clatteringand thumping feet. A week before the bigday, we angels had a good time makingour haloes. This was a crescent shapedpiece of card that fitted over the top ofthe head, and we covered it by windingstrips of gold paper round it, from oneend to the other. Children often fuss overwho is chosen to be Joseph and Mary,but I was very happy to wear thebeautiful white robe and have a goldenglow around my head.

The rehearsals were very interesting andentertaining. There was a scene of ameal where all the characters had tosuddenly jump up and leave in a hurry.Whether it was the villagers joining theshepherds or the kings hurrying to starttheir journey, I have no recollection. All Iremember is that some of the childrentaking part in that scene found itimpossible not to grab some of the foodfrom the table before they left, despitethe admonishments from the teachers.This was definitely not part of the story

but probably unwittingly true to life!Maybe they should have used cardboardbread to prevent this unseemlyinterruption to the smooth flow of thestory. Some of the characters had tocarry candle lamps and they used goldpaper to represent the flame. I wasconvinced that there was a bettersolution to this, but no matter how hard Itried, I could not think of an alternative,especially as all the props had to becheap and hand made.

The high point of my Christmas creativeefforts was the making of a modelNativity scene, generally consisting of abarn, stable or shelter, all the figures andanimals, with a backdrop of blue sky andstars, one giant star attached to or justhovering over the roof, and thecompulsory snow, completelydisregarding the likely climate of the areaat that time. Small cheap plastic Nativityfigures were easy to obtain and tiny toyanimals were already to hand in the toybox. All my ingenuity went into creatingthe landscape and buildings, using cerealcartons with white paper stuck to themso that the details could be drawn andcoloured in. White detergent powdermade good snow as it consisted of tinygranules that could be piled up or gluedto the roof. Its pungent aroma had to beignored, and could be forgiven when onestood back to view the perfection of theglistening snow. Background hills werethe usual folds of cotton wool. Theultimate enhancement was a smallsolitary torch bulb inside the stable withthe battery hidden behind. Yellow interiorwalls made the whole thing glow fromwithin and placing it near the Christmastree meant that the silver stars took onthe colours of the tree lights.

Christmas Nativities

Silver glitter was essential for finishingoff the snow scene as well as makingother decorations. The stash was alwayskept topped up, and I became aconnoisseur of glitter quality. Cheap oneswere dark coloured and came in bendyplastic tubes. The worst cheap ones werea mixture of colours, and despised as theunattractive sweepings from the factory!The good ones were lighter and came inglass tubes and those I sought outeverywhere I went. I did with them whatI now do with my printer inks - makesure I have several in each colour tocover every eventuality and not run outat a critical moment. The favourites weresilver, gold and white, the latter beingtiny pearlescent flakes that brought ashimmer without obscuring the colour ofwhatever was beneath. I could not resistimproving the Christmas cards with them,before my parents sent them out. Everysnow scene, candle, lamp, fireside, starrysky or glistening holly berry had to bepicked out in glitter and I vicariouslyjoined the recipient in gasping withdelight at receiving such a gloriouslydazzling card, far better than could bebought in any shop. I am sure they alsofound a small residue of excess glitterfalling from the envelope as well.

I recently visited Trafalgar Square inLondon where once again there is ondisplay the beautiful Nativity scenecreated in 2006, in a large perspex casenear the base of Nelson’s Column. All thecarved wooden figures are fairly plain butlifelike, spread out widely, eachspotlighted, and all their gazes directedat the baby in the centre, wrapped incloths and lying on the ground. It isamazing how mesmerising this simplearrangement is, where time has beenhalted and the components of the sceneseparated, so that the viewer sees andconsiders each character in turn, tryingto guess how their real-life counterpartsof two thousand years ago reacted to theevent and what effect it had on their livesfrom that moment on. The distancebetween the figures seems to representtheir personal space, empty of intrusionsthat might interrupt their thoughts onthis astounding moment in history.Passing children were instantly drawn tothe lamb and donkey in two of thecorners. I took photographs fromdifferent angles but they cannot quitecapture the arresting effect that thescene has when you are actually standingthere. I much prefer this Nativity sceneto all those I made in years past.(1025 words)

www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand-reading.org.ukwww.long-live-pitmans-shorthand-reading.org.uk