JESUS IS BORN!

Ignasi García Barba

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CHARACTERS

NARRATOR

MARY

ANGEL

JOSEPH

MOUSE

CAT

DONKEY

JEREMIAH

OWNER 1

OWNER 2

CALF

2 SHEEPS

3 WISE MEN

SHEPHERDS

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NARRATOR - Once upon a time, in Nazareth, a town in Palestine, a young woman was praying.

The young woman's name was Mary. Suddenly, the room was filled with light and an

angel appeared in front of her.

ANGEL- Hello, Mary, full of Grace. God is with you. I am Gabriel, the messenger of God. You

shall have a son and you shall name him Jesus.

MARY- But how is this possible? I haven’t even been married, yet.

ANGEL- The Holy Spirit of God will come onto you, and God’s power will rest on you.

MARY- And what will I say to Joseph, who is to be my future husband?

ANGEL- Don’t worry! I will talk to him!

NARRATOR- Joseph was very confused. Mary was to give birth to a child but they had not been

married, yet. Then the angel Gabriel appeared in front of him.

JOSEPH- Who are you?

ANGEL- I am Gabriel, the messenger of God. Joseph, don’t be surprised to find that Mary is

with child.

JOSEPH- I am very sad because I am not the father of that child. I will break the engagement

with Mary.

ANGEL- Don’t do that. This is the work of God. Jesus will be born and will say to the people:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who are not

good to you”

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JOSEPH- Oh! These are lovely words!

ANGEL- Marry Mary and take her home. Protect her and the child who is to be born.

JOSEPH- I will do as you say.

NARRATOR- Then Joseph took some beautiful flowers and he went to meet Mary.

JOSEPH- Mary, I love you and I love the child who is to be born to you. Do you want to marry

me? I promise to look after you and to look after the child as if he is my own.

MARY- I love you, Joseph. And I want to marry you, too. We will be good parents for Jesus, the

son of God.

NARRATOR- Joseph and Mary got married. They celebrated a feast and a banquet with their

families, and everybody was happy. At night, everybody went back home, and the place

where they had been eating was empty.

(One MOUSE comes in the stage from one side)

MOUSE (speaks to the audience)- Hello, I am a mouse and I am very happy because everybody

has gone home, so now I can take some food from the table. But I don’t know what to

choose? There is so much food left over on the tables!

(As the mouse is trying to choose, a CAT comes onto the stage from the opposite side)

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CAT (speaks to the audience)- Hello, I am a cat. I protect the food in this restaurant from the

mice.

(He sees the Mouse)

CAT - Hey, you! What are you doing here? Are you trying to eat our food? Come here!

MOUSE- No, no, please, don’ t eat me!

(The CAT runs behind the MOUSE around the stage. Finally, the CAT catches him)

CAT- Don’t cry! I will eat you and it is naturally so. Because cats and mice are enemies!

MOUSE- But soon a child is to be born, his name will be Jesus and he will be the son of God.

And he will say: “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you!”

CAT- Really?

MOUSE- Yes! I’m not lying!

(For a few seconds, the CAT thinks about that)

CAT- Fine, I will not eat you. But if I find out that you are lying to me, then I will eat you!

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(They leave the stage together)

NARRATOR- Joseph took Mary to his house and for a few months they lived quietly and

happily. But at that time, Palestine was occupied by the romans, and they imposed their

laws on all. One day, when it was near the time when Jesus was to be born, Joseph told

Mary some important news.

(MARY is on the stage. She is with child. JOSEPH comes in stage)

JOSEPH- Mary, the romans are taking a census in Bethlehem.

MARY- A census? What is that?

JOSEPH- They want to know how many people live in Palestine, their names and their

addresses. We have to go to Bethlehem.

MARY- So be it. Let us go. My child will be born soon, but I think I can still go to Bethlehem,

we can walk slowly.

NARRATOR- But as they travelled, Mary got more and more tired.

MARY (tired)- Oh! Bethlehem is further than I thought. I am very tired.

JOSEPH- Don’t worry, Mary! Sit down and rest!

MARY- Yes, I will rest a bit. But I will need help, if we are to reach Bethlehem.

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(The CAT and the MOUSE are listening to Mary from a corner of the stage)

MOUSE- Have you heard that, cat? They need help!

CAT- Yes, but what can we do?

MOUSE- Follow me! I smell a donkey, he is very near, perhaps he can help us.

(The CAT and the MOUSE run around the stage. A DONKEY and a man,-JEREMIAH, come onto

the stage)

MOUSE- Here is the donkey! Hey, donkey, can you hear me? Donkey! I am here!

CAT- You are too small, the donkey cannot hear you. I will talk to him! Hey, donkey, Can you

hear me?

DONKEY- Yes cat, but I do not hear you very clearly. I am an old donkey and I cannot hear very

well. How are you? Can I help you?

CAT- Yes, donkey, you can help us. Mary is very tired. Very soon Jesus will be born unto her.

She is going to be the mother of Jesus, the son of God. She must go to Bethlehem, but

she is tired, and she cannot walk any more. Can you carry her, please?

DONKEY- Yes, of course I can carry her. But I need the permission of my owner Jeremiah. He is

a good man, but he doesn’t understand the animal's language. What can we do?

MOUSE- I have an idea! You run to Mary and her husband Joseph. Your owner will run behind

you and when they meet, they can ask him for help.

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DONKEY- This is a very good idea!!

(The DONKEY runs around the stage. JEREMIAH runs behind him)

JEREMIAH (stutters)- Do-do-donkey!! Whe-whe-where are you go-go-going?

(The DONKEY and JEREMIAH arrive to the place where MARY and JOSEPH are resting)

MARY- Oh! What a lovely donkey!

JOSEPH- Good evening, sir. I am Joseph and this is Mary, my wife. What is your name?

JEREMIAH- My name is Je-Je-Jeremiah. So-so-sorry, I am a li-li-little stut-stut-stutterer. Pe-pe-

people laugh at me.

MARY- Don’t worry. We will not laugh at you.

JEREMIAH- You are good pe-pe-persons. You look ti-ti-tired, Mrs. Ma-Ma-Mary.

MARY- Yes. We must go to Bethlehem, but I am with child and my son Jesus will be born

soon. I cannot walk any more.

JEREMIAH- Then ta-ta-take my do-do-donkey, and he will ca-ca-carry you to Bethlehem!

JOSEPH- Thank you, Mr. Jeremiah. God bless you.

JEREMIAH- Donkey, look after Mary and look after her son Jesus, when he is born.

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(MARY and JOSEPH go with DONKEY)

MOUSE (To the CAT, happily)- Did you see that? I was right!

NARRATOR- The donkey carried Mary to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, Mary was

really, really very tired.

MARY- Joseph, I feel my child will be born soon.

JOSEPH- Don’t worry, Mary. I will try to find a room for you.

NARRATOR- Bethlehem was full of people and there was no place for them anywhere.

(JOSEPH knocks a door and OWNER 1 comes in stage)

JOSEPH- Good evening, sir. Have you got a room for my wife and I? She is with child and our

son Jesus will be born very soon.

OWNER 1- I am sorry, my guesthouse is full. Try the other guesthouses.

(OWNER 1 leaves the stage. JOSEPH knocks another door. OWNER 2 comes in stage)

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JOSEPH- Good evening, sir. Have you got a room for my wife and I? She is going to give birth to

our son Jesus very soon.

OWNER 2- I have got one room, but it is very expensive. Have you got money to pay for it?

JOSEPH- No, we don’t have any money, but my wife is in a delicate situation, try to

understand.

OWNER 2- No way! If you don’t have any money, I will not give you a room.

JOSEPH- At least give us some food to eat, please, we are hungry.

OWNER 2- If you don’t have any money, I will not give you any food!

(OWNER 2 leaves the stage. The MOUSE, the DONKEY and the CAT have seen it all)

MOUSE- Oh, he is such a bad man! If only I could bite his nose!

DONKEY- What are you saying, mouse? Remember I am a little deaf.

MOUSE (louder)- If I were bigger, I would bite that bad man's nose!

CAT- We should help Mary and Joseph, but I don’t know how.

MOUSE- Don’t be sad, God is great and good. I’m sure he will help us. Let’s pray to HIM for

help!

MOUSE, CAT, DONKEY (praying together)- “Dear God, please, show us how to help our friends

Joseph and Mary, who will soon be the mother of your son Jesus.”

(A calf comes onto the stage)

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CALF- Hello, can I help you?

DONKEY- Who are you?

CALF- I’m a calf.

MOUSE- You see, little calf, our friends Mary and Joseph need help. Mary is with child, and her

child Jesus, the son of God, will be born soon. But they are hungry and they need a place

to sleep.

CALF- I’m going to take some milk from my mother, the cow, and I will bring it to you for your

friends Mary and Joseph.

(CALF leaves the stage)

CAT- Do you think the calf will really help us?

MOUSE- We prayed to God and the calf came. I’m sure he will help us.

DONKEY- I hope so.

(CALF comes again onto stage, with two glasses of milk)

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CALF- Here is the milk! I told my mother about you, and she said that Mary and Joseph can

sleep in our stable. It is not very big but it is warm and clean. Come with me and I will

show it to you!

NARRATOR- The cat, the mouse, the donkey and the calf gave Mary and Joseph the milk to

drink, and they went with them to the stable. At midnight, the child was born. Jesus, the

son of God, was born in the poorest place of Bethlehem. But it was a place full of love.

(We see MARY, JOSEPH and the CHILD JESUS on the stage)

JOSEPH- What a lovely child!

MARY- My little son, Jesus, the Hope of the world!

NARRATOR- Very close by there were some shepherds who were keeping their sheep.

(Some SHEPHERDS sleep on the floor. There are two sheep very close by.)

SHEEP 1- Beeeeeeee!

SHEEP 2- Please, be quiet! I cannot sleep!

SHEEP 2- I am sorry, I am so excited! I feel this is a very special night, but I don’t know why.

Beeeeee!

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NARRATOR- Suddenly, an angel appears in front of the shepherds and the sheep.

(The ANGEL comes onto the stage and the shepherds wake up)

ANGEL- God bless you! I bring you happy news! Jesus, the son of God, has been born in a

stable very nearby! Go and greet him!

SHEPHERD: And how will we recognise the place where he has been born?

ANGEL- You will see a very brilliant star above that place.

NARRATOR- On the same night, three wise men from the east came to Bethlehem, guided by

the brilliant star. They were looking for Jesus to greet him.

WISE MAN 1- Long time ago, the prophet Isaiah said: “A Virgin will give birth to a son”.

WISE MAN 2- “And he will be our king”.

WISE MAN 3- “And he will be called the Prince of Peace”.

NARRATOR- The three wise men and the shepherds found the stable and they greeted Jesus.

Outside the stable, the cat, the mouse, the donkey, the calf and the sheep started to argue,

because each one wanted to be the first to greet Jesus.

MOUSE- I want to be first!

CAT- No, no! Me!

DONKEY- No, no! Me!

CALF- I want to be first!

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SHEEP- No! We want to be first!

JOSEPH- What is happening here? Why are you arguing?

ANIMALS (all together)- I want to be the first to greet Jesus!

JOSEPH- There is enough place for all of you, inside the stable. Come together and greet Jesus!

He will be very happy to see you, he is waiting for all of you!

(All the ANIMALS come on stage and stand around JESUS)

EVERYBODY ON THE STAGE: We adore you, Jesus! We are very happy, because your Love is in

the world, and we will always carry You in our hearts!

CURTAIN