Sat 01 January 2000

Scene 1

[ Introduction: leader picks child to knock on bin, everyone calls 'come out Stinky!', Stinky comes out singing his intro tune ]

STINKY: Hello little monkeys!

LEADER: Hello Stinky!

STINKY: Hello Mr Dave! Oh, look at all the little monkeys... Lots of big ones too! Ha, they've come to hear me sing the carols, eh! Honk!

LEADER: Ah... well, we've all come to sing together Stinky. I'm glad you can help me present the songs.

STINKY: Well, I'm a good singer! I've been preparing for this. Honk!

LEADER: Oh, that's nice!

STINKY: Yes, I even do my vocal exercises to get just right. [Does lots of weird sounds, finish with some throat clearing sound and spits in Dave's direction]

LEADER: Stinky!

STINKY: Oh, sorry! I missed -- I meant to get that guy over there [points to audience].

LEADER: Now Stinky...

STINKY: Honk!

LEADER: Pardon?

STINKY: Honk!

LEADER: Bless you!

STINKY: Honk!

LEADER: OK, Stinky -- stop. Why are you making that honk sound?

STINKY: I'm practicing for the famous carol: Honk the hairy angel sings.

LEADER: Ah, Stinky, I think you'd make a good hairy angel, but I think you're a bit confused. Kids, what carol is Stinky thinking of?

STINKY: [Sings it] Honk the Hairy Angel sings...

LEADER: Stinky, the carol is called 'Hark the Herald Angels sing'.

STINKY: Hark? Funny name...

LEADER: Hark means 'listen!'. This carol is all about listening up to the angels, who are messengers (old word for that is Herald). They are like news reporters

LEADER: S What are they reporting?

LEADER: L They reporting some good news. That God has sent his Son, the king, into the world. To bring us peace with God

STINKY: Wow that is amazing, when can we sing that?

LEADER: Soon stinky, the band is ready -- we will sing a number of songs tonight -- all around this good news. That's what people have been doing for a long time now at this time of the year.

STINKY: I might get ready and let the Carols begin, bye little monkeys

LEADER: That's great stinky. Well lets all get ready and join in together in the Carols that are in your booklet.

Scene 2

[ Stinky comes out with a knight's helmet or similar ]

STINKY: Oh, Mr Dave, can you help me put this on?

LEADER: [Confused] OK...

STINKY: Thank you. I'm ready now. [stares into distance quietly]

LEADER: Ah, Stinky... what are you doing?

STINKY: [does a 'zip it' or shush motion]

LEADER: Stinky, we've got some carols to sing...

STINKY: [Murmurs] I can't talk!

LEADER: Why can't you talk Stinky?

STINKY: [Murmurs] I'm being a silent knight!

LEADER: Pardon?

STINKY: [Aloud] I'm being a silent knight! [Sad] Ah, I'm not being a silent knight anymore...

LEADER: Why are you being a silent knight?

STINKY: You know [sings]: Silent knight... Holy knight...

LEADER: Oh, that carol is not about a knight in shining armour who keeps quiet! It's about the night Jesus was born.

STINKY: A big night!

LEADER: In many ways it was a night like any other. But God's king was born to bring peace. So the song comes to symbolise a night of peace.

STINKY: A night of peace -- is that why baby Jesus didn't cry?

LEADER: What do you mean?

STINKY: You know... (singing) 'no crying he makes'

LEADER: Oh -- you mean Away in a Manger. I think the person who wrote the song wanted to show how this night was amazing. God was bringing peace to this world. And a baby sleeping is a much better picture of peace than a baby crying.

STINKY: So did Jesus cry?

LEADER: Yes, Jesus cried, like all babies. In many ways this night was quite ordinary. But in other ways it was extraordinary. There were stars doing strange things. Angels appearing to people. And God came amongst us like never before. It was a night of peace.

STINKY: That's great, are we going to sing some more Christmas Carols?

LEADER: We certainly are Stinky -- Once in Royal David's City

Scene 3

[ Stinky comes out with a sock and a brush ]

STINKY: Oh, Mr Dave. I'm ready for the next carol. I've got a good feeling about this one...

LEADER: Good!

STINKY: Yes, here, hold this. [hands over sock] Back soon... [gets down].

LEADER: [Lifts up to audience] A sock? Ew, this sock is dirty! And Stinky!

STINKY: [Returns with a brush/soap] Coming! OK, I've got my brush. You hold the sock here.

LEADER: [Holds sock on edge of bin, Stinky brushes]

STINKY: [Sings while brushing] While shepherds wash their socks by night, All seated on the ground...

LEADER: No, no, Stinky!

STINKY: What! I got the shepherds right! They're not knights. They're not even honking!

LEADER: No, the shepherds in the carol are not washing their socks. They're watching their flock -- of sheep! Because they're shepherds.

STINKY: [Disappointed] Oh. Are the sheep honking?

LEADER: Nope.

STINKY: Aw! What's this carol about then?

LEADER: What we celebrate at Christmas is that God interrupted our usual with his unusual.  Shepherds watching their sheep at night --

STINKY: That's usual!

LEADER: but angels appearing to shepherds --

STINKY: That's unusual!

LEADER: And telling them that God's King and Saviour was born. 

STINKY: That's very unusual!

LEADER: Yes - This has only ever happened once in the whole entire history of the world. 

STINKY: But if it only happened once, a long time ago... how come we know about it?

LEADER: We would not have known about this if we weren't told.  People wrote down how God has made his peace known. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. That God would care enough to interrupt the usual with his extraordinary unusual. And he did this so that we might know his peace. And that is something that is extraordinary.

LEADER: S Are we going to sing any more song?

LEADER: We certainly are Stinky - how about we get ready now for the band to lead us in the 1^st^ Noel.

LEADER: S I knew a Noel once

LEADER: L What?

LEADER: S Noel -- he was a nice man.

STINKY: L what?

LEADER: S But I don't think he was the first Noel. Maybe 23^rd^?

STINKY: L Noel is not a person but an old English word meaning Christmas or birthday. It's a song about the first time we could celebrate Christmas -- when God sent his Son into the world. The time God entered our usual with his unusual.

STINKY: Let's sing then!

LEADER: Say goodbye Stinky.

STINKY: Bye little monkeys.

Category: scripts Tagged: Christmas Carols