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Nativity, St Andrew’s Church, Florence Road, Boscombe

Shadows cast by the special lighting around the beautiful church of St. Andrew’s, now into its Centenary year, set the scene for a production of the Nativity on 16th December.
The desert canopy, the manger, and the central staging in front of the chancel with some of the characters from this old, old, story, pervaded a feeling of mystery and, yes, the East even, on such a cold, December afternoon.

All was now ready for a somewhat unusual Nativity, produced by Geraldine Elliot-Smith, and all that was needed was an audience.  And audience they had: St. Andrew’s Church was packed. 

The actors were drawn from members of the Church, the drama group, and others from outside St. Andrew’s.  Jesus in the manager was “played” by baby Daisy and looked beautiful, of course.  Inevitably, the arrival of Gilbert the donkey from Alice’s Adventure Wonderland caused the most stir, not least when Gilbert decided to live up to the reputation of donkeys and required a deal of encouragement to accompany Mary and Joseph around the church on their journey to Bethlehem!  His owner, Berni, was concerned lest Gilbert’s reluctance would disturb the balance of the production, but surely “’twas ever thus” with donkeys?

Nice touches also in this production were a soprano solo by Dorothy Ingram – “Still, Still, Still”, a traditional Austrian melody – and a performance of Massenet’s “Meditation” by violinist Laura Cunningham and pianist and church organist, Darrell Harvey. 

A mixture of experience and inexperience worked together on 16th December to make this a memorable and very enjoyable event.  Costumes were good, from the baby angels to the kings, in fact everyone, and realism was achieved.  The support of the audience with the carols, and the roles of the St. Andrew’s choir and the church team all worked to make this a success story for Geraldine Elliot-Smith, and for the story of the first Christmas.

Lucille Brooke

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