These four short plays are all based around familiar Christmas carols.
The Christmas Quartet comprises: All is Calm, All is Bright and Dashing Through the Snow, which tell the story of the composition of, respectively, Silent Night and Jingle Bells; and Following Yonder Star and Deep and Crisp and Even which recount the narratives as told in We Three Kings of Orient Are and Good King Wenceslas.
Each play is around 15-20 minutes in duration, and each play finishes with the cast singing the carol in question. The plays are written for performance by schools and youth groups, with large, flexible casts and straightforward staging and lighting.
The comparative complexity of these plays means that they are aimed at performance by a slightly older cast than other Christmas plays that might be available – aged around 10-15, perhaps.
The plays are published by schoolplaysandpantos.com. The entries relating to these plays on their website includes sample pages of diaolgue. You can also purchase copies of the plays and performance rights.
The four plays for the Christmas Quartet are:
All is Calm, All is Bright: The Play of Silent Night
This play tells the story of the composition of Silent Night, which was written for a Christmas service in a small Austrian village in 1818 following the destruction of the church organ in a flood – hence the carol usually being performed with only a guitar accompaniment.
Dashing Through the Snow: The Play of Jingle Bells
This play is set in Medford, Massachusetts, and tells the story of the composition of Jingle Bells in 1857. The song was written by a church pastor to accompany the town’s traditional sleigh rides. The characters in the play include children of Medford and also the pastor, James Lord Pierpont.
Following Yonder Star: The Play of We Three Kings
Based on the Christmas carol We Three Kings of Orient Are, this play features the Three Wise Men as they reach the end of their journey to Bethleham and encounter a cynical innkeeper and his wife, along with their mischievous child. Some of the lines from the carol are incorporated into the dialogue of the play.
Deep and Crisp and Even: The Play of Good King Wenceslas
This play is based on the narrative as told in the carol Good King Wenceslas. King Wenceslas was a tenth century ruler of Bohemia who, according to legend, travelled with his page through the snow to give alms to a pauper. The play incorporates dialogue from the carol and has an all-male cast.
