The Soldiers’ Christmas

Pre-prep Christmas Play – 2007.

The play begins with the marching of feet approaching the stage from the rear of the Hall.  In come the soldiers.  The story is narrated by Jade Sandy and Jack Harvey who sit very smartly on the side of the stage.  The tale unfolds telling us of the soldiers who carry out their various tasks many miles from their homeland at the time of the birth of Jesus.  The angel meets with Mary and Rosie Gillet sings a lovely solo.  We are introduced to Joseph and then the travellers as they all begin their journey to Bethlehem.  The soldiers are back with us as we are led to the stable by the innkeeper and his wife, where baby Jesus is born guarded by two friendly looking donkeys.  Tom Sowerby starts off solo with one of my favourite songs in the show ‘Snuggled in the Straw’.  Also looking for the stable are the shepherds and their sheep, the angels daintily flapping onto the stage to give them directions.  The soldiers meet with the shepherds, executing brilliant bopping up and down during the next rendition of ‘Soldiers in a Foreign Land’.  The next bit is beautifully organised as the stars come up onto the stage in a line formation and India performs a perfect solo of ‘Pretty Little Twinkling Star’ before being joined by the others.  Great balance was shown by all stars exiting the stage as they did their twirls!   We needed sunglasses for the arrival of the kings due to the glittering first king as they strutted round the stage before giving their gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby.  The stage is now filling up and once again we hear marching as the soldiers find the stable.  The children raise the rafters with the last rendition of ‘Soldiers in a Foreign Land’.  A Christmas play wouldn’t be a Christmas play without an old favourite, so they all sang their hearts out with ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’.  They take their bow and how sad, its over for another year, when our children will all be a year older, slightly taller, a little cleverer! 

The costumes were wonderful, all the children sang the songs with enthusiasm and knew the words perfectly.  These productions are so special to all the parents and grandparents, etc.  To the teachers and helpers who throw themselves into making it so wonderful, a special thank you not just from me but everyone I am sure who sat and watched and, yes, probably shed a tear or two!  It was splendid.

A proud mum.