Every year, a collaboration of local actors comes together to perform a Christmas Tableaux at the United Church of Two Harbors. Director Katya Gordon describes the tableaux as, “It’s really a wonderful coming together of people of all denominations. This is what we all have in common, and can together act out a story we consider sacred and foundational.”
The tableaux begins with the appearance of the angel Gabriel to the aged priest Zacharius. Gabriel reveals the startling news that Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth, will have a son, though they are both elderly. The scene then changes to that of the Annunciation, where Gabriel appears to Elizabeth’s young cousin, Mary, and tells her she will miraculously bear the Christ child. A singer then sings the “Magnificat” live, the haunting music adding to the ethereal scene.
As the scenes progress, the Christmas story is told, accompanied by a musical interlude and Scripture reading for each scene. We watch as Mary and her betrothed, Joseph, travel to Bethlehem under the taxation mandate from Caesar Augustus. We see Mary lie the infant Jesus in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, because there was “no room in the inn.” We see a host of angels appear to frightened Judean shepherds, telling them their long-awaited Messiah has been born.
We watch as the infant Jesus is presented in the temple, and is rejoiced over by the elderly Simeon and the prophetess Anna. We watch as magi from the east embark on their quest to seek for the Christ child. They come to Jerusalem, where the king, Herod, learns of this baby born to be King. We watch as the magi present magnificent gifts to the child Jesus, and we watch as first the magi, then the Holy Family, leave Bethlehem without alerting Herod.
We watch in horror as the infuriated Herod, determined to destroy the Christ child to ensure his position as the only king of Israel, issues the violent edict that all children aged two and under were to be slain. Dramatic music plays as we see the women of Israel frozen in horror at this command.
Finally, we watch as Mary and Joseph return to their homeland with the child Jesus after the death of Herod.
A tableaux differs from an ordinary play in that the characters, once in position for their scene, freeze for the duration of the scene while it is read. Many actors participate in the tableaux every year and enjoy really getting into their parts. According to Gordon, “One participant told me that when he was quaking under the eyes of Gabriel he truly felt a presence of comfort and love coming his way, and it influenced his gestures. Another actress told me that the more she did the poses, the more she thought about her character, and the more the whole story started to mean to her.”
Katya Gordon also says, “Human characters that are frozen even as their speech is being read aloud is mesmerizing and somehow, I believe, helps us to access the humanity of the characters and the remarkableness of the story from a more heart-centered part of our brain.”
