Nativity play taken to new heights

Cyril the Camel stands on the Hayes, greeting the public outside the entrance to “Christmas - The Story”

Two donkeys, a life size camel puppet called Cyril and over one hundred performances. This Christmas season, Cardiff is really taking the nativity play tradition up a notch.

Sally Humble-Jackson, who organizes the event, first brought “Christmas – The Story” to Cardiff three years ago, when she realized that the prisoners with whom she was working were not familiar with the nativity story.

She said, “It’s not about evangelizing or preaching. It’s just about making sure the story stays as part of everyone’s Christmas and is there for everyone always.”

The performance is acted entirely by volunteers, who rotate roles every few days.

It takes place every 40 minutes at the Tabernacle Church in the Hayes every Monday to Saturday between 1 and 22 December.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXs2eC17XlA[/youtube]

Do you know the Christmas story?

Sally Humble-Jackson, who had the idea for the nativity performances, was shocked by the unawareness of the Christmas story she was witnessing.

She said, “I did a nativity in Cardiff prison with the men in there for their carol concert and I discovered when we were working on it that none of the younger men had ever heard the nativity story in their lives. I got one of them to read the story out and he read ‘gold and Frankenstein and mirror’ and nobody laughed. At that point I knew they really didn’t know the story.”

However, statistics published by think tank Theos in 2007 suggests that ignorance of the nativity story may be more widespread than generally thought. According to their poll:

– 36% of people aged between 18 and 24 are unable to identify Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus

– 27% did not know who told Mary she would have a son

– 52% did not know that John the Baptist is Jesus’ cousin.