A Hamilton drama group are bringing the Christmas story direct to you this year.
Drama Kirk normally perform the Nativity in the town centre as part of the reindeer parade, however that will not be possible this year because of the pandemic.
So for Christmas 2020 they decided to film the greatest story ever told and put it on YouTube.
Liz Blackman, the group’s creative director, said: “We also usually take our play to other community venues like care homes.
“Clearly, none of that would be safe this year, so we had to look at other options.
“We wanted to provide something fun, that could be easily shared with schools, community groups and churches. Something that could fit alongside celebrations being planned, which could tell the story of Christmas in a modern way.
“We found a wonderful script, Jerusalem News by Ray Markham, and decided to film it and make it freely available.
“We hired a small team of professional actors and worked with them to ensure we could adhere to social distancing whilst filming. In a first for us, we also hired a director.”
Nicholas Elliott directs the production and is himself a professional actor, playing Jesus for Drama Kirk’s since 2018.
Liz added: “As well as the opportunity to work with Nicky in a different way, I felt there was something poignant in having ‘Jesus’ lead how we celebrated his birth.”
Nicholas said:“In directing this lovely, clever, little script we developed ideas of comedy, elements of drama and emotion and we challenged ourselves to get a bit of everything in there. What we have a arrived at is a different, funny and somewhat poignant take of the Nativity told through the eyes of a newsroom in a heated press environment.”
Jerusalem News is set in a TV newsroom in the city, and inspiration is at an all-time low. The team are wondering what story to cover. Could it be Herod’s latest building project? A new angle on the census? Suddenly, a new story presents itself, in the shape of a baby, born behind a pub in Bethlehem.
Could this baby be the promised Messiah? Will the team run the story? And will this turn out to be the greatest story ever told?.
Local actress Louise Scott joined the cast, working with Drama Kirk for the first time.
She is a recent acting graduate of New College Lanarkshire who is also currently producing her own Hamilton-based series Tales Fae a Wee Toon, which reflects on lockdown life from the perspective of different characters.
In Jerusalem News Louise plays Ruth, who first gets the call about the exciting birth. She then has the tough job of convincing the other journalists to run with the scoop.
Drama Kirk hopes this short film will provide schools, community groups and churches with a fun resource to augment their celebrations.
The film is available on YouTube or DVDs can be sent if required.
Go to Hamilton Old Parish’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/HamiltonOld to watch the Nativity play.
