Last modified on Fri 11 Dec 2020 07.53 EST
Angel Gabriel calling Mary on Zoom to tell her that she’s expecting the baby Jesus. A trip to the countryside and some furloughed shepherds.
As the unfamiliar becomes familiar amid the pandemic, the nativity is no different – with schools across the country getting creative in their depictions of the traditional play.
“We didn’t want it to look like a filmed stage show, or a bit ‘naff’. We wanted it to be as realistic as possible,” said Jo Goode, headteacher of Grasmere Primary School in Cumbria.
Unable to hold the traditional play in church due to Covid-19 restrictions, the school took 70 schoolchildren to the Lake District countryside, in their local area, to shoot the 20-minute film. In a revamped script, the play follows Mary and Joseph living in an inner city urban area. Fearing the repercussions of the pandemic they decide to run away to the countryside, rather than the usual trek across the desert.