26 years of motherhood with 4 active children gives you a cynical view of Nativity plays at Christmas. Usually some kid has caught a virus and passed it on at the playground or at rehearsals and someone has to stand in for someone else but usually it all sort of comes together (by a miracle!) with bright shiny happy little faces looking like perfect angels (with the help of lots of tinsel) in church for the school nativity play.  

So I turned up at the Birmingham Rep on Friday 25th November 2023 with low expectations, and....Wow! Birmingham city at Christmas is a sight to behold. Although it is still November, we have the Christmas German Markets in full swing, the Ice Skating ring next to the Birmingham Rep had a ceiling dripping with Christmas lights and there were exciting fun fair style rides which were not like the tacky ones we all outgrew years ago. These were all so beautifully decorated that one is made so happy to celebrate Christmas in November!  

The curtains went up in the Birmingham Rep to a full crowd, a completely sold out show, and everyone was so happy! The children and adult performers were obviously enjoying themselves, so the audience too. Everyone knew their lines (no teacher sitting on the first row to prompt forgetful children or hold up cue cards) and the audience could follow the script which was displayed on both sides of the stage for hearing impaired grandparents (so thoughtful).  

The children were so young and energetic (the youngest was 6 years old), and really threw themselves into their performances - they sang, they danced, they acted and they somersaulted! And they flew across the stage. I know from ferrying my own children to performances that it takes commitment and stamina to pull through a mediocre performance, but to attain this level of professionalism with 54 local children is....a Christmas miracle.  

The performance was led by the super-talented Billy Roberts as teacher, Mr. Maddens, and the sprightly multi-talented Ben Lancaster as Mr. Poppy.   The writer and director is BAFTA and EMMY award winning Debbie Isitt who attended Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School in Harborne, Birmingham.

I was very pleased that Birmingham has produced such a talented young woman who ensured that the musical had local references, to Coventry & Wolverhampton. Her amazing work first took shape as a book and then became a series of films with the first film, "Nativity!" in 2009 involving Martin Freeman, Marc Wooton and Ashley Jensen. Later Debbie realised it would work wonderfully as a musical.

The Birmingham Rep staged the world premiere of "Nativity! The Musical" in November 2017 and it was an instant hit. It has toured the UK and been seen by more than a million people.   

It was particularly moving towards the end of the performance when the lights went out and the audience had their mobile phones ready, shining like a million stars in the night sky, waving in harmony.  

I conclude that, if this is the only musical you will watch this year, you should come to the Birmingham Rep and watch "Nativity! The Musical".