The Palace at Bethlehem

I am very glad to present you a new Christmas play. I think it will give a new dimension to the conventional biblical narration about Christmas. The plot of the story is at Elath in Israel.

Curtain rises

(Beginning song)

[raising curtain and’ silent night “should begin in the same moment][For beginning song we can use The Silent night” for 1.41 minutes]

Silent night! holy night !

All is calm all is bright;

Round you virgin mother and child,

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night! holy night !

All is calm all is bright;

Round you virgin mother and child,

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace

[The scene shows the holy child and his parents in the cowshed. Can see the harping angels behind. Then come the shepherds showing praising signs. This follows the three orient kings who stand in admiration after their adoration by gifts. We need only the first half of” silent night” (1.41 minutes ) (The conclusion of all the songs should be made in a fade away style, for that you can use sound editing software.)]

Curtain falls slowly after the song.

Announcement

Thus, the son of god has born at Bethlehem. The gospel spread the whole nation. This news finally reached at Elath, a Jude village near the border of Misreim. Would you like to hear the story of Jejude, the Jude rabbi of the village?

Here we present

“The Palace at Bethlehem”!

[For marching song, we can tune the verses Mathew 2:6  to give a suitable marching tone]

                                    Marching song

(And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israell)

Curtain rises

(Jejude the rabbi completes his prayer service in the synagogue.It is evening. When the curtain rises, we see the rabbi kept kneeling before the menorah. Just after prayer he stands up and moves out in a hurry and looks out side and says himself)

Rabbi: Ho! It is too late … (Turns back …and by closing the synagogue he says …) have finished all the works … should reach home fast.

(Rabbi closes the synagogue and walks out briskly. When he reaches near the old wooden bridge, Rabbi turns his head hearing loud noises. He sees a crowd of people stand near the boat-repairing centre. . He thinks for a moment and asks himself…)

Rabbi: What is there a crowd?

(He walks towards the crowd. On seeing rabbi all the people wishes him in respect. Rabbi sees a man standing on an old wooden piece and saying some thing aloud. Tiloce, a nonprofessional comes forward and wishes rabbi, the rabbi asks...)

Rabbi: Tiloce … What happened? Why do the people crowd?

Tiloce: Rabbi...Look...that man…. He is a merchant from misreim…..please give an ear to his words...

(The merchant stands up in respect and continues his speech loudly..)

Foreign Merchant: Do you know …the son of god has born in Bethlehem ….We all will get salvation …We will free from slavery…

(Rabbi thinks for a moment … then … asks the merchant loudly….)

Rabbi: pardon…..Have you seen the son of god...?

Foreign Merchant: No…No…I have not seen the son of god.

...On my way after business from misreim, I saw three orient kings resting in the desert...they said the gospel to me…Their faces seemed glowing with celestial light…!

(Rabbi thinks deeply for a moment and asks loudly…)

Rabbi: If so…How far is Bethlehem from here...?

Foreign Merchant: (loudly) Around three hundred hours from here…must cross ...forest. mountains... streams ...and desert….could see if you are lucky...

(Rabbi turns back and walks in a hurry. The Merchant continues his gospel….his sound diminishes in the stage...)

Curtain falls

Marching song

(And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.)

Curtain rises

(Rabbi reaches home ...it is getting night…he knocks at the door.

In stage, we can see Silvia ,the wife of rabbi... sitting on a chair knitting a ware...)

[A word about Silvia—Silvia is a very unrefined uncouth and self-centered woman. She likes rabbi but never like his preaching….but like every Jude of that time, she was optimistic about the birth of the god of salvation...]

Hearing the knocks outside, Silvia stands up in hurry and moves towards the door. Slowly opens the door...

Rabbi enters the room smartly and moves forward without looking at Silvia and hangs his outer coat...when he turns back he sees the furious Silvia...Silvia stands in an angry feminine style... and asks loudly…

Silvia: hay man….why are you so late? If you want this much time to complete the synagogue service …why should you ....search another job...?

Rabbi: Oh..! …I'm sorry... I'm sorry...forgive me …stop talking loudly….there is a reason…. there is a reason for my delay...

Do you know one thing...? You know …the king of kings… the son of god…. written in the holy book has born at Bethlehem...!

Silvia: (in surprise) ..Ah…! Who said this...?

Rabbi: One foreign Merchant …He was preaching loudly to a crowd near the old wooden bridge. My heart has lost its peace after hearing the gospel…Ah….Silvia ....wouldn’t you like to ….see the son of god..? Shall we go to ….Bethlehem…?

Silvia: (thinks for a moment and asks….) then…What about the synagogue? Who will do the prayer service...?

Rabbi: Oh…that thing…let the small rabbi do the work….a..ha…Ho! (Keeping hands on his forehead...) Is it enough... thinking all the time … synagogue…. synagogue…!

Silvia: If so….let us go….rabbi. We can go early morning tomorrow…let us feed the donkey and do all preparations.

Curtain falls

Marching song

(And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel)

Curtain rises

Rabbi and his wife covered a long distance and finished a few days of travel. They reached an isolated area full of thorny bushes and shrubs. The donkey carries their load … rabbi holds and pulls the animal... Both of them are tired...

Silvia: Ho… It is too long...too…far away…..

Rabbi: still… we have to cross...Mountain and desert….to be at still...

(Silvia sees a man laying on the ground .He seemed wounded and in pathetic condition. He groans with pain…He is struggling for life ...His wounds are bleeding)

Silvia: Hey,…look….somebody… lying on the ground…

Rabbi: Ch…Come… let us go and see..

(Hearing a sound the wounded man raises his face in hope and sees the rabbi. Soon the man starts begging for life…)

Wounded man: Oh! Ah!... Rabbi…. Rabbi...It is only God sent you..! Please save me,….robbers…attacked me….beaten me…tortured and snatched everything…my wounds are bleeding …I will die soon…Please rescue me….Please…

Silvia: (Silvia mummers at Rabbi’ ear…)…..may be a drunkard…It is a trap…

Rabbi:Ah! Drunkard….! Son, do not drink alcohol….It is a sin...

It is not a good habit. Have you ever heard about Ten Commandments?

Wounded man: Rabbi, what I’m saying is true….It is true ...please save me ...please...

Silvia: Hey.. man.. tell the truth….What happened to you? Where is your wife and children?

Wounded man: Please ..Please believe my words. I will die by bleeding…Mother …I will appeal at your feet … (the wounded man holds the feet of Silvia with his bleeding shivering hands….…Silvia drags her feet back in anger and says…..)

Silvia: What is this man…? Leave your hands from my shoes…do not make my shoes dirty… I bought these shoes during the last Passover feast…Do you know that...? (Silvia holds the hand of rabbi in a hurry. and says…)…..Come man..let us go..

(Rabbi looks at the wounded man in hate and says …)

Oh…man …you become in this state….! Don’t drink…Drinking alcohol is a sin….by the by ….have you ever heard about Ten Commandments...?

(Silvia becomes angry on hearing his teaching….she responds in a mocking tone…)

Silvia: Oh! Stop this…Ten Commandments….Ten Commandments…. Come. Let us go.

(Yelling of the wounded man slowly diminishes in the stage)

[Light in the stage should dim ….and set the stage like the room of an inn...]

As the light comes….rabbi spreads his prayer mat on the floor…and invites Silvia for prayer...)

Rabbi: Silvia...Let us pray… (Both of them kneel down. and starts praying…)

Rabbi&Silvia: Oh! Abba…God…Father …If we have done any sin to anybody today, please forgive us…Please wash our hearts and make them anew…..A.men…

Curtain falls

Marching song

(And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel)

Curtain rises

(Next day …early morning…Rabbi and Silvia with their donkey continue their journey…..it is a cold weather…most of the regions covered by snow.. ..and the whole air filled by mist…)

Rabbi: Mist has not gone…how cold it is...

Silvia: Oooo…. (Wrapping her woolen coat around her body, she says in chill and haste...) How long shall we take to reach there…?

Rabbi: I think it is not…too long….look….who is that...? Who is calling us by waving hands...?

Silvia: Yes... Yes, you are right…Who are they...? Call them here….is that their want Know!

(A family with a donkey comes closer…..rabbi looks at them and says…)

Rabbi: The man looks like a Jud….his wife and child, know…and a donkey carrying load…;

(As the family approaches them, Silvia asks loudly…)

Silvia: Who are you..? What you want? Tell about you….

(The Jude salutes Rabbi by bowing head…and says...)

The Jud: ..salutes rabbi.... .My name is Joseph. This is my wife Maria. We come from Bethlehem…We feel so thirsty…We have no water in our..leather case….Will you please give us a little water..?

Silvia:Water…!We have little water…(Silvia trickily closes her left eye for giving a sign to rabbi…and says harshly…..arrogantly)

Why should you take water for a long journey...? Ah…

Rabbi :( turns to Silvia and tells her in a low voice…) Silvia …we have enough water with us…shall we give a little water to them ...?)

(Silvia’s face becomes reddish with anger and tells rabbi in a shocking low tone…..)

What is this man...? You must say…” no water”… won’t you need enough water …ah…?

(Rabbi sense the heat of Silvia and turns up side down..says..)

Rabbi:Ah……wa….water..we have little water…which province you belong to..?..not smart in your dress.. tired….you should have collected water for your child at the beginning onwards….shouldn’t you have some pity towards children…?..ngh...you may get water a few steps ahead…please go….

Silvia: Oh, if don’t allow travelling peacefully!… do they know the aim and majesty of our journey!.?

Rabbi: Ah…abba….come …let us go fast…otherwise the gate of the palace may be closed….

(Both groups turn to their own ways and continue journey…. Soon an idea flashes in rabbi’s mind…he turns back.. thinks for a moment and asks loudly….)

Rabbi: Ah…..May I ask you one question...Aren’t you coming from Bethlehem..? We heard the son of god has born there….Do you know any thing about that…?

(On hearing, rabbi’s sound the Jud family turns back….and responds in surprise and craving...with extreme enthusiasm, Joseph says…)

Joseph: Oh..h…..it ..it..is we …. look ….rabbi…look ..this child ..this child...is …the son of god…he …is the messiah…..please .look….my son is the child of god…my son is Messiah……we are going to misreim as directed by the Angel of God…..ah…look .Maria ..show our son…

(As Maria shows the holy child…. wicked Silvia burst out in laughter…..a mocking laughter….)

Silvia:Ha..ha…ha...ha…ha…ha….it is really a good joke…good joke….the son of god has born as a child of you.. poor..poor dirty people…Have you lost your balance…?

Maria: Please believe us Madam…please… It is the son of god who borne in my womb. Please...Please give us a little water. He is so thirsty...

Rabbi: Will you please go…? We are so busy…(The poor family turns back in agony and continue their journey with their donkey… rabbi&silvia turns back and walks quickly pulling their donkey ….to their destination...)

Curtain falls

Marching song

(And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel)

Curtain rises

(Rabbi &Silvia finally reach Bethlehem…they are in happy…surprise moods….with over joy …rabbi says loudly…)

Rabbi: Look…Bethlehem…Bethlehem… (Rabbi looks here and there... and enjoys the holiness of Bethlehem…but ...soon he comes to a mood of doubt ...and asks ...himself) ….where is….where is...the palace of the Son of God...?

(On hearing rabbi’s monologue ...Silvia looks forward… sees one women coming to their side …pointing the women pedestrian….she hurriedly.. says loudly…...)

Silvia: Ah... let us …let us ask that women….

Rabbi :( rabbi asks the woman….a little loudly…) Will you please stop there…? (The woman stops walking, salute rabbi..., and stand still for his word….) We come hearing the birth of a holy child here…Can you say where He is..?

(The woman reacts earnestly….says in merriment…)

Woman pedestrian: Yes...Yes, …You are right….Glory to God….look….He has born in that inn….

(The woman hastily continued her walking just after her reply…leaving rabbi in utter confusion….)

Rabbi: Wh…What...? I can’t… believe….the Son of God has born in an inn…. Any way…….. ah..let us go and see…

(rabbi&silvia go to the inn…after tying the donkey to a palm tree…both of them enter the inn……the inn keeper who was reading…slightly rises his face on hearing a cough near the door…seeing rabbi he stands up in respect…and salutes him….

Rabbi: We come hearing the birth of the Son of God... here... . in Bethlehem…

(The innkeeper starts to speak out in enthusiasm and eagerness with out letting rabbi to complete his words…)

The inn keeper: .Ye..Yes..Yes,…..halleluiah…..Glory to God…I am blessed…..the divine child was born …there…look….

(The innkeeper points his finger to a direction to the corner of the inn…

The words and response of the innkeeper doubled the confusion and restlessness of rabbi….in utter perplexity combined with anger…..rabbi….breaks out …)

Rabbi: WH…what ….is that...a cattle shed…? The...Son of god was born in cattle shed…?.! Don’t say God’s rage ….ah…please….please tell me…where is the palace of …..the Son of God?

(The innkeeper looks…. deeply in to the eyes of the rabbi for a moment…..just walk forward… turns back….. and says in a very ...respectful way…in a soothing tone….pointing his finger to a direction… )

The innkeeper: Sir.. as you believe…in you deep heart……in spite of your belief…the Son of God was born as the humblest of the humble….in that manger……

(On hearing the innkeeper’s words…. Silvia becomes furious and tells rabbi in callous way….)

Silvia: Look,…he is telling about someone else….not about the child we are searching for ….come …let us asks somebody….come...

(Rabbi&Silvia get out in hurry…leaving the innkeeper in empathy)

Curtain falls

Announcement

(Rabbi and his wife wandered through out Bethlehem like nomads. They enquired many a people. They walked to each corner of Bethlehem in search of palace of the Son of God. Nobody could give a hint about a divine child who born in a palace... They became tired physically and mentally. They lost their hope. Frustrated by prolonged search they decided to go home without seeing the Son of God. While crossing an isolated area named Nisan...…the most tragic side of their life happened…yes ...bandits attacked them... They are tortured, wounded and thrown away beside the bushy way...snatching every thing. They laid on the way side wounded and unconsciousness like orphans….

Curtain rises

Silvia and rabbi lay unconscious on the way…..Silvia...slightly shocks… and slowly get consciousness ….She groans. and... painfully opens her eyes….and...looks around and dreadfully sense the flashes of the whole malicious incidence….and cries aloud for rabbi….she...sees…wounded rabbi...laying...ahead...unconscious... she drags herself…and tries to touch rabbi…she strongly …pats on his body…and calls him loudly…..he ..slowly…and painfully ...comes to...consciousness…Seeing this Silvia .....cries out…deafeningly….

Silvia: Ah…..Oh…..Go…d…we …come to this stage…..Oh God…help us...save...us….come..anybody fast….we are going to die….all our earnings ..gone….

On hearing Silvia’s lamentations rabbi burst out in deep grief…..and cries out...

Rabbi: AH…abba….father…..save…..from death……we happened to suffer …..all these tribulations ….only because of our search for your child…..Oh…Oh….God…..rescue us…we are going to die…..

(A tall stranger comes to the seen….he looks at them…goes near them….and asks rabbi... loudly….)

Stranger: Are you...a rabbi...?

(Hearing a strange sound … a spark of hope ignited in rabbi’s heart and asks quickly……)

Rabbi:…Yh…Yes…Yes…..Do you know us.?...if so..please…save us….we are in danger…….thieves…….attacked us….tortured and wounded……they snatched.away…all..savings…we will die soon…by bleeding……

Silvia: please save…us..brother…

(the stranger seems thinking deeply….his eyes appeared so sharp….keen…a strange halo of white light seems radiating from his body….he starts to talk magnificently…like echoing sea waves…)

[Careful to set the stranger’s sound in an echoing mode]

The stranger: Were you the people gone to Bethlehem to see the divine child...? …You strongly believed …..the child borne in a palace ….know..?

How can you see the Son of God…. if you cannot feel...the pains of others…?

How can you distinguish ….the Son of God …if you …..cannot give… a little water for… the thirsty…?

Make your souls ….humble…. by changing the wild selfishness and hypocrisy of your hearts…..

(Rabbi and sivia become astonished and afraid on hearing the words about them……a huge hot wave of thought…hit and splashed throughout their inner self….the first bud of sin-consciousness break out from their hard inner shell of hypocrisy….rabbi cries out loudly……)

Rabbi:…Y…Yh…you…know…everything………Who are you…..?

The stranger: “I AM… THAT I AM …...”

“RESPECT AND BLESS THE HUMBLE FIRST…THEN…YOU SEARCH FOR……. THE SON OF GOD………MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU……..”

(A big light flashes in the stage and soon dims to utter dark…)

[A rapid change should be made in the stage for rabbi and Silvia. They should be given their own neat dress with out any traces of wounds. These changes should be done as fast as possible]

(When the light comes in the stage.....)

Rabbi: Ah….my pains….my…wh..wounds…..my…pains ..everything ….gone…!…silvia…!…

Silvia:..Mh….me. also…..rabbi……my ..wounds...everything …vanished…WH…what a wonder…..?..I am all right...now.....Nghe….. look…look…look rabbi…all..our ..savings…..lay safely…….God …….thank you……Glory …to…God..!

(Rabbi and silvia…in profound ecstasy…jump up…look here and there…… roar and cry out...loudly….)

Rabbi and silvia: Ah…the man….wh…where...is...He…? Where is. He…Oh….w……Go…d….who is he…?....Where is ..He...?

Where is he…? (The sound echoes and slowly diminishes.)

(Rabbi and silvia stand upset and stand still in the searching posture…holding their hands half up…keep still in the same posture till the end of conclusion announcement …As the marching song begins… they slowly kneels down and attains a sin conscious praying posture with their faces looking up and eyes running)

Conclusion announcement

[Announcement should begin just after a time when you feel the audience reached a deep flash assimilation of the climax…]

Christian life is a journey... A journey to see the Son of God...In our life many a times He approaches us as a worried, tortured, tired, cheated, wounded, defaulted or any other form of want. But neither we hear His voice nor identify Him. The Son of God speaks to us through the suffering people of our society. Our voyages without Him lead us finally to an empty crib…!May God bless each one of us find the Son of God in our life crossing.

(Rabbi and Silvia starts kneeling from their standstill posture just after the announcement. The marching song begins just the same moment…the curtain slowly comes down finishing the marching song)

And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel

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WISH YOU A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

eager to know your views

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