Herm School Nativity

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of seeing a nativity play performed by Herm primary school (all seven of the student body performed there in the church). If this were supposed to be a review then it would be hard to find anything critical to say about what was, on the whole, the best thing I have seen this year.

The nativity was played out in a customarily unconventional fashion. Sure there was the story of the birth of our lord and saviour, but the show's tagline was 'feelin' groovy'. Simon and Garfunkel songs were reworked with comic effect (Sound of Silence became Birth of Jesus, while a lot was made of the line 'Jesus loves you more than you will know'). Previous years have seen similar holy transformations involving the songs of Dolly Parton, ABBA and others. Black Sabbath next time around perhaps.

The children's singing was exceptional. Rachel Wright played piano on the night and had done an excellent job coaching the cast. Not only that: this was a more imaginative and nuanced nativity than I've seen elsewhere. This was thanks to good writing that featured plenty of jokes and a few touching references to troubles in the world. Maybe it's the small island mentality: the smaller the island, the better the drama. On Houmet Paradis fairies are perhaps, as I write this even, creating the 21st century's answer to Hamlet.

Jo was in bits (I cried too - the solo from Joseph set me off). Once she had gathered her thoughts, I got the following ideas from her (for any review that I might want to write):

Q: What would you say to Mary [Carey - the teacher/executive producer] vis-a-vis the nativity?

Jo: Another triumph. Any parent would only hope their child's teacher had 1% of your creativity.

Q: Who was the most under-rated performer, if anyone?

Jo: The cymbal player during The Boxer, for giving it his all.

Q: Who would appear on a poster of the Herm nativity, as designed by you?

Jo: The album cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, photoshopped so we see the background of the Little Russel: Mary and Joseph's faces are superimposed over S&G's.