St. Dunstan’s Christmas Pageant Captivates Audience

Beautiful pageant photos courtesy of Vicki Ledet

The long-awaited St. Dunstan’s Christmas pageant, “Good News of Great Joy,” written by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard, was presented Sunday morning to a packed house that was instantly enchanted by the cast of dozens (two to be exact) of players.

The lead role — the baby Jesus — was played by Laura, whose chubby legs could be seen by the audience kicking her socks off. Kudos also go to Katie and Will (Mary and Joseph) who soothed baby Jesus, using rattles and a pacifier, a device believed to be invented in early Rome. “No crying she makes” was almost completely true. AND, okay, this reviewer and the audience just thought she was adorable!

The part of the donkey ridden by Mary to Bethlehem was portrayed by Grant, who displayed serious attention to his art. He did not miss a beat in the whole performance and got the holy couple safely to their destination, the second inn.

However, it is worth noting that Joseph Henry, fondly remembered in previous years for his role as one of the three wise men, this year took on a new challenge: the innkeeper who throws Mary and Joseph out of his business establishment. Joseph Henry was completely believable as the mean innkeeper, who throws Joseph, Mary and the donkey out onto the streets.

Molly and Josie also did a fine job of narrating the story, speaking clearly and eloquently. The kings—Sean, Connor and James—were stunning in their new costumes and frankly, just precious kneeling before the baby Jesus with their gifts. Meanwhile, the sheep, with their fuzzy little ears and heads, wandered around and slept on the stage as if they were real, live animals. The sheep were played by Carson, Noah and Brennan. Sophie was a lovely star.

The shepherds, Monte, Whit, Greg and Rick, explored their abilities to ad lib, which drove the audience to roars of laughter. And last, but not least, the angels from Gabriel (Greer) and Meg to the littlest angels—Carly, Anna Marie, Janae, and Jackie and Wally—were heavenly. There’s nothing like a gaggle of sleepy angels wearing golden wings, white tights and black patent leather shoes to get you into the spirit of Christmas.


Bravo to Ellen Gallow, director, for the excellent performance!

Behind the scenes
This year theater at St. Dunstan’s reached new heights in costumes, following the destruction of the old costumes by floods in the basement. Costume designer Ginny Harris led an excellent effort to replace a little more than two dozen costumes, including eight angels, plus Gabriel, six shepherds and three wisemen, the Holy Family, the innkeepers and various animals. In fact, everything was replaced with the exception of the props used for the gold, frankincense and myrrh.

To accomplish this, Ginny had to gather enough volunteers to physically design and sew the costumes as well as reach out to secure donations of materials. On the help front, Ginny was able to entice parishioners as well as five members of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Sewing Guild (which meets at the church monthly).

“The thing that was the nicest about it was the day—there were a half dozen sewers and the rest couldn’t sew at all but we had a good time. There was a real sense of community going on in that room that day,” said Ginny shortly after the performance. In all, there were a dozen volunteers, including Dick Harris, Ginny’s husband, who achieved the realistic heaven-like quality of the angel’s wings using 14-guage wire wrapped in gold tinsel garland purchased from the Dollar Store.

Patricia donated hand woven cloth from Thailand, a remnant of her experience in the Peace Corps. “She said she wouldn’t use it after 30 years,” Ginny explained. Other beautiful fabrics leftover from home decorating projects were also donated. Nancy Dillion, for instance, gave the fabric from pillows that didn’t get put together, which was transformed into a collar for a king.

Finally, a local favorite fabric shop frequented by members of the guild, heard about the need for shepherds costumes’, says Ginny. He donated 40 yards of fabric to the cause. I share this correspondence from Ginny, preceding the event in the parish hall on October 24:

“The seamstresses have offered to bring their own machines and notions to go with them. Others, please bring scissors, needles, pins, tape measures, thread, and anything else that you think might be handy.

All volunteers, bring your good humor!”

And I believe, that’s just what they did.