Following the star A puppet Christmas roadshow by Andy Hughes 2008
This show was first performed at Christmas 2008 by 6 puppet teams working in schools across Wales. Over 12,000 children and their teachers have seen the show in either English or Welsh. The show can be performed with puppets and actors as written, or it may be adapted for an all-puppet performance or more than one actor. The minimum needed to perform it is 4 people and you can have as many as there are parts! If you are considering performing this, we are happy to provide advice and may be able to supply you with backing tracks for the songs. For details contact Andy Hughes on 07968 826401 or e-mail saintygymuned@btinternet.com
Characters Asif Camilla Carmel Bob Gofor Azariah Tostig Jeremy Puppet - a servant to the 3 kings/wise men Puppet - camel (posh) Puppet - camel Puppet - camel with a wind problem! Actor - servant to king Herod King/wise man who is allergic to camels King/wise man who is a bit vague King/wise man who thinks he s a rock legend! Scenes 1. Asif explains about the journey & the kings ponder what kind of king has a star 2. Asif meets Herod s servant Gofor 3. The camels quiz 4. The account of meeting Herod 5. Asif recounts what they found in Bethlehem Team of 4 1. Asif, Jeremy, Bob, 2. Tostig, Camilla 3. Azariah, Gofor, 4. Technician, Carmel Team of 5 1. Asif, 2 Jeremy, Bob, 3. Tostig, Camilla 4. Azariah, Gofor, 5. Technician, Carmel Team of 6 1. Asif, 2 Jeremy, Bob, 3. Tostig, Camilla 4. Azariah, Carmel 5. Gofor 6. Technician
Scene 1 (Lights up to reveal set which is a camp site in the desert at night. Above the set is a lit star. Asif enters) Asif: Now where did I leave that kettle? King Tostig won t be able to sleep without his late night drink. (Notices audience) Oh, hello there (there may or may not be a response!). Sorry, hope we re not disturbing you. It is alright to camp here isn t it? We won t be staying long. Tost: (heard shouting offstage) Asiiiiiiiif! Asif: (shouting back) Just coming your majesty - the kettle s on. (Turning back to the audience) That should keep him quiet for a bit. Now where was I? Oh yes, I m Asif and I m the servant to these three kings - well they re sort of kings. Some people call them wise men although I m not at all sure you could describe King Jeremy as wise! Bit of a twit if you ask me. Tost: Asiiiif! (Asif jumps) Get a move on will you. Asif: Yes your majesty, just coming. (To audience) Bet you re wondering what three kings are doing here. We re only stopping overnight. We re on a journey, you see. Would you like to know where we re going? So would I! We ve been travelling for ages. Started off way over there in the east. Everything was as quiet as it ever is with those three around and in charge until one night King Azariah was looking up at the sky and he noticed this star...(nods) that bright one up there. He was so excited, he had me wake up the other two in the middle of the night. King Tostig was not at all happy, I can tell you - he definitely needs his beauty sleep - a bit like Mr/Mrs...(headteacher of school - ONLY use this line if it seems sensitive to do so). Anyway, up they got - eventually - and saw the star. They were SO excited. What could it mean? They d never seen a star that bright before. All night they watched it and all the next night and the next night. Then they realised something - it was moving. Before I knew what was happening, they had me running around, saddling camels, collecting food and cooking pots and clothing and tents and blankets and cushions and wood for the fire and...well I hardly got all that stuff together and we were off, following the star. I m exhausted I can tell you. (He leans on the side of the set and yawns) (Tostig enters) Tost: Ah there you are Asif. Don t just laze about there boy. Where s my hot...er...um...? Asif: Drink! Sorry your majesty, I ll go and get it now. (He exits and the other kings enter) Tost: Splendid, splendid. Aza: Aaaaachooooo! Tost and Bless you Aza: Blasted camels - they always make me sneeze. I said we should have left them behind. Tost: Nonsense, how would we have carried all our...er...um... Stuff Aza: There s no need to be rude! 1
No, I was finishing his sentence. How would we carry all our stuff. Tostig: Exactly! How would we have carried all our...er...umm... Aza: Stuff! Anyway isn t it nice to sit round the camp fire at night. Almost makes me want to sing. Move over sneeze-head. This is my moment. Singing is MY thing. (Intro music starts for song: Gonna find the king. The kings dance - head bang etc) Sitting on a camel for night after night, that is shining so bright. Not sure if the way we are going is right But we re gonna find the king. Riding along on these stinky old beasts With their humps and their tails and their well-bony feet. Stopping for a rest and for something to eat But we re gonna find the king. (head-banging solo by King Jeremy! The others tut-tut and shake heads in disgust) Back on the camel and off down the road They re terribly slow carrying all that load But we ll keep on going on the path the star s showed Cos we re gonna find the king (Jez) sing it guys Yeah we re gonna find the king (Jez) just one more time Oh we re gonna find the king (Jez) Rock on! (Music finishes and they stop dancing and gather round for a discussion) That was terrific - you can t beat a bit of rock and roll Aza: Unfortunately! I d like to drive it out with a big stick. Tost: Settle down you two. Err...um...I m sure we ve got things to do...but I can t remember what exactly. Aza: Sleep would probably be a good idea at this stage. Tost: Capital idea - I could do with a rest. Don t be silly, it s night-time. We have to follow the star. You can sleep in the morning when it s light and we can t see the star any more. Aza: Blast it! That mean s we ll have to get back on those smelly camels again. I swear that one I m riding has wind 24 hours a day and...ah...ah...ah..aaaachoooooo!! Jez & Tost: Bless you Aza: Thank you. They make me sneeze. 2
I wonder what kind of king he ll be? Tost: Who? The king whose star we re following, of course. Tost: Oh yes. Sorry, I forgot. Aza: Never mind. I wondered about that too. We ve come such a long way and we don t really know what we re looking for at all. Exactly. All we know is that there s a new king been born and we have to follow the star to find him. Tost: I bet he ll be really big with teams of white horses and beautifully decorated robes and the finest food and wine... Don t be ridiculous, he s only just been born! Tost: Oops! I am being a silly Billy aren t I? Aza: Yes you are but it s no more than we ve come to expect. Whatever he s like, I m looking forward to meeting him. I m sure that any king who has his own star to announce his arrival must be very special indeed - however young he is. (The others nod in agreement) You re right. Hey, we d better get moving. I think we re coming close to Jerusalem. Maybe the star will stop there and we ll find him. Tost: Oh! How exciting. Do let s go now. Aza: OK. I ll get Asif to get the ca...aa...aaaachooo...mels Tost & Bless you! (They leave. Blackout) 3
Scene 2 (Light up to reveal empty set. Asif enters and busies himself. We hear the sound of a camel break wind offstage!) Asif: Not again. That camel has problems! Why can t he be like the others? I don t know. It s turning into a very busy night. First we stop for a rest and food and I have to light the fire and cook and set out cushions and water the camels and everything. Then the next minute we re packing up again and on our way following the star in the dark and heading for Jerusalem. Then we arrive outside the city and off they go inside leaving me with another fire to light and tents to put up and those camels again. (sound of camel breaking wind again) Asif: Pleeeease! (Gofor enters) Gofor: Count yourself very fortunate. Asif: Who are you? Gofor: My name is Gofor - I m the servant to King Herod whose palace is here in Jerusalem. Asif: I see. And why should I count myself fortunate when I have so much work to do? Gofor:Well at least you don t work for King Herod. Asif: Well I have to work for three kings - at least you only have one master to obey. Gofor: Granted, but you haven t met him. Asif: Why what s he like? Gofor: He s mean. I mean really mean. The sort of man who would shout at his daughter s pet cat just because it looked at him and who throws plates at his servants just because they re looking tired. Asif: That s mean. Gofor: I told you. Fifteen years I ve worked for him. Never had a day off. Never once said thank you for anything I d done. Never once saw him smile. Asif: Never smiles? Gofor: Never. He just scowls and looks cross and shouts at people. Everyone s afraid of him. Asif: I don t think I want to meet him. Gofor: With any luck you won t have to. Where are your masters? Asif: They ve gone to see King Herod. Gofor: What on earth for? Asif: To ask him about a new baby born to be king. 4
Gofor: Oh dear. He s not going to like it. That ll be me in trouble when I get back. I think I ll just stay well clear of the palace until he s calmed down. Asif: Good idea. Gofor: One thing that s puzzling me though? What are you doing here? I mean, how did you come to be here in Jerusalem? Asif: I ll explain. (Music begins for song: following the star. This could be a solo for Asif or the camels could join in at the top of the set), we travelled from afar over mountains and crossing desert roads., we travelled from afar always searching not knowing what we would find. Looking for a king, the new king who's born, we journey onward unsure where we must go. Looking for the king, we'll keep on searching 'til we find Him and know what wise men know. We're following the star.. (Camel) 'til we find Him. (Camel) We will find Him Asif: (as the music fades) Gofor you re welcome to stay here and help me if you like. Gofor: Great! First break I get and you want me to work. Asif: Or you could always go back to Herod. Gofor: Point taken. What would you like me to do? Asif: I m going to sort out the tents. Could you do something with those camels? Gofor: OK (Asif leaves) Gofor: Now then, where are those camels? Maybe they re round the back somewhere. (Gofor leaves) 5
Scene 3 (Camilla and Carmel are at the back of the set talking together) Cam: Well darlings, can you believe what a night we ve had. Carm: I quite agree my dear. We ve had to travel SO far. That king Azariah is a little on the large size don t you think. Cam: I certainly do and king Jeremy isn t much better. My little feet are really aching. Carm: O you poor dear. (The sound of Bob breaking wind is heard offstage) Car & Carm: BOB! That s disgusting. (Bob appears) Bob: Sorry about that. It s all this strange foreign food - plays havoc with my guts. Cam: That s as maybe dear but do try and keep it to yourself Bob: Oh I ve been trying. I m just not very good at it. Carm: Nice to have a bit of a break though isn t it my dears? Cam: Certainly is. What shall we do? Bob: What about a nice quiz? Cam: What kind of quiz? Bob: We could ask these nice children some questions and see if they know the answers. Carm: Children?! (She looks) Oh yes! Funny looking aren t they! How are we going to do this? Cam: Well we could split them into 2 teams and play one team against the other. We ask each team a question and Bob s your uncle! Carm: I sincerely hope not dear. It s bad enough having to travel with him but to entertain the idea that we might actually be related...oh...bob s your uncle indeed. Bob: It s just as well I m not easily upset. That s all I m saying. Cam: I like the idea of having two teams, dear. The only question I have is, how are we going to keep the score? Carm: What do you mean? Cam: Well none of us is any good with paper and pens. The nibs get stuck in our hooves. Bob: I ve got an idea. Carm: Oh dear! 6
Bob: Don t be like that. All we need is 2 piles of something we can use to make piles that show which team is winning. Cam: Jolly good idea. Carm: You would say that. I m just wondering what on earth we are going to find two piles of that we can use. Bob: I think I can help there. Carm: I feared you might. Bob: Round the back in the corner are two nice fresh piles of camel dung. We can use that. Carm & Cam: Oh no! Bob: Well have either of you got a better idea? (They shake their heads. At that moment Gofor arrives) Bob: Just the job. Gofor, we re going to have a quiz with these nice children. Do you think you could help us please? Gofor: (a bit shocked) Oooooh a talking camel! Er...er...er...um...I suppose... Bob: Good, just pop round the back and come back with those 2 piles of fresh dung will you? Gofor: Er...I suppose...(he goes saying)...what did I do to deserve this. Bob: There you go. I knew he d help. Cam: What about questions dear? You know, for the quiz. Carm: Oh I ve thought of those already. (Gofor re-appears with 2 buckets of dung) Bob: Well done Gofor. Now if you d divide the children into 2 teams we ll start the quiz. (Quiz continues with Carmel asking the questions and Gofor getting children to answer and making dung piles for each team) Questions: 1. What is the name of the servant boy who looks after the kings? Asif 2. How many kings are there? 3 3. Where do they come from? The east 4. What are they following? Star 5. What are they looking for? A king 6. Where have they gone now? To Herod s palace Bonus question: When will they be back? No-one knows! Carm: Well jolly well done everyone. You have been paying attention well. Bob: I don t know about you two but all this has made me very sleepy. I think I m going for a nap. Cam: Jolly good idea dear. (They all leave) 7
Scene 4 (The 3 kings return) Aza: That s jolly exciting isn t it! Certainly is. Tost: Is it? Oh yes...it is! What s exciting? What Herod said about going to Bethlehem. Tost: I didn t like him much. He was very grumpy. Especially when we woke him up by knocking on the palace door. Aza: He did seem very interested in the star though. He even asked his wise men about it. Yes, it was them that said we should go to Bethlehem to look for the new-born King. Tost: Look! The star is moving. It s going towards...towards... Aza & Bethlehem. Come on let s get going. (Shouting) Asiiiiif! Sort the camels will you boy. Aza: Aaaaaachooooooo! Jez & Tost: Bless you Aza: Thank you. Did you have to mention camels? Tost: What was it King Herod said we should do when we find the new King? Aza: Come back and tell him so he can go and see him too. I m not sure we should do that. Anyone who looks that grumpy might frighten the baby. Aza: Enough of all that for now. Let s get going. Just keep following the star and we ll find the King. (They leave. Blackout) 8
Scene 5 (enter Asif who is very excited) Asif: You ll never guess where we ve been! (Possible panto-style Oh yes we will etc here) We ve been to Bethlehem and we saw the King. After we left Jerusalem, we followed the star all the way to Bethlehem. And when we arrived there, it seemed to stop. That s the first time since we left home all those weeks ago. Anyway, the 3 kings were so excited they almost fell off their camels! Even King Tostig remembered why they had come! They went inside the building and then King Azariah came back out and called for the presents so I took them in. And there He was - the new King - laying there with His mum and dad. Jesus they called Him. He was sooooo beautiful and so peaceful. One of the Kings said something about some ancient writings and prince of peace. I didn t really understand that bit. He was so young to be a King, but even so, there was something Kingly about Him. I m not sure just what it was. I ve never seen anything quite like that before - He certainly is a different kind of King - not at all like my 3 masters. Then I saw something else I ve never seen before - my masters, the three Kings all bowed down in front of Jesus. It was like they were worshipping Him or something. At first I just stood there and then, strangely, I felt like I wanted to bow down too. I d no sooner got down on my knees when King Azariah pointed to the presents. I d left them by the door. They unwrapped them from the blankets we d put round them for the journey and gave them to the parents. There was gold, of course, for the King but the others were funny presents if you ask me - frankincense and myrrh. Oh, here come the kings now. (We hear the sound of the kings returning all talking at once. The music starts for final song. If puppeteers have enough hands/energy, the camels can also join in. The words should be on a large board which is placed at the front for the audience to join in.) Song: We will worship Him Travelling oh so far looking for the King, following that bright star that led us here to Him. Seeing Him face to face it makes your whole heart sing so ev'rything we can give we will gladly bring. We will worship Him, we will worship Him. We will worship Him, Jesus is our King. We will worship Him, He's the King of kings. Jesus is our King, we will worship Him. (At end of song, all puppets exit) 9