Review of Scene 1
Mary has a visitor
By Our Man Near the Exit, Steve Tomkins

Unscripted, unrehearsed and quite possibly unwatchable, it's the Ship of Fools online nativity panto. With fifteen day-long scenes created in real time, it is surely a theatrical first and in all probability a theatrical last.

After literally months of no preparation at all, on Monday the virtual curtain was raised on a house packed with eager chattering faces, most of whom were in the cast. The director Miffy has assembled a troupe of no less than 82 actors, musicians, animals and attention-starved hangers-on on a rigorous first-come-first-served basis.

It all got off to the best possible start with the actor playing Gabriel failing to show up, so it was more like Waiting for Godot than any nativity play I've ever seen. The 24-hour annunciation scene without an angel was innovative, challenging and theologically thought-provoking theatre, if a little hard on the seat.

Consequently the scene was unexpectedly dependent for dialogue on Mary's texting her fiancé and mother - which made one rather grateful to be following it in writing on a bulletin board rather than the more traditional "boards".

Watch out for the different approaches of Mary and Joseph. Eventually told by 4th Angel that she is to have a child, Mary takes things into her own hands and texts her man:

IF I C U 2NITE, ITS MAR NOW, 9 MNTHS SHD TAKE US TO XMAS. AN XMAS BABY.

Joseph though is faithful not just to Mary but to the text:

MARY, U BEEN HANGING WID DEM LIBRL THEOLGNS AGAIN? U R A VIRGIN, AND U STAY A VIRGIN! SHEESH!

Fortunately by the time she talks to mother, Mary is a little clearer on the story:

YOU NAUGHTY NAUGHTY GIRL
ST ANNE (MUM)

MUM ITS OK
BBY NOT JOS
GOD CAME UPON ME

Surely the most promising development though is that the overcasting extends to Mary conceiving not only the traditional one King of the Jews, but also Jesus' evil twin. An opportunity for some fascinating and unprecedented theological exploration, or (knowing the actor Erin) to insult and shout at everybody.

It's also splendid to see a dragon being given a much larger part than usual in more backward looking nativity plays. Dragon acts as a kind of chorus summing up the action (not very much) and filling in the gaps (many), and gave the best line of the night after Gabriel failed to show:

O Mary, how the sun shines bright
Upon your crisp white veil
It's sunny now for March alright
We were expecting Hail

While the star of the show was not surprisingly Mary, let me finish with a few other bouquets. The award for worst rhyme goes to Angel 3 for "boldly to Tesco" and "just nine months to go!" And the coveted (and fiercely contested) award for Most Blatant and Incessant Attempts at Scene-stealing from a Completely Irrelevant Character goes of course to Tealady.

Glorious stuff. Tomorrow, Scene 2: Elizabeth has a Visitor. Let's hope Elizabeth can make it.

© Ship of Fools 2002