Anna and Elizabeth enact - 'What Child Is This?'

The Grace Group, a drama group based in Gloucestershire, have put together a special re-enactment of the story of Jesus' birth told through the eyes of two women who knew some of the facts first hand.

Playing the parts of the prophetess Anna, and Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, they describe the events surrounding the Christ child's miraculous birth and his visit to the temple where Mary and Joseph met Simeon and Anna, as told Luke 2. You may watch the recorded story, which is under 15 minutes long, here.

Sue McLeish and Rosemary Halliday playing the parts of Anna and Elizabeth

Rosemary Halliday of the Grace Group wrote to us, explaining, 'We thought you might like this short scene that Sue and I have put together for Christmas. It features Anna and Elizabeth and some of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. We've used a bit of artistic licence assuming Anna and Elizabeth to be friends, but we feel sure they would have known each other.'

Members of the Grace Group near Cheltenham were, until lockdown, meeting regularly to rehearse dramatised Bible stories through a blend of scripting and improvisation. The work they do now follows the Covid-19 regulations either through social distancing or ensuring the actors are in 'bubbles'.

In 'What Child Is This?', the aged Anna, who has found a new home in the temple since her widowhood, interprets the puzzling events. The pair conclude that the baby Jesus truly is the Son of God. They, along with others, witnessed much of what happened and can testify to the truth of it.

Finally the question is posed: 'Perhaps during this time when the world is so unsettled, we should consider again the message that Jesus brings – his light into a dark world.'