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Nativity in puppets

The annual Nativity pageant presented by Paul Mesner Puppets

Walking into Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral is an awe-inspiring experience. The immense, ornate cathedral held its first services in 1894, and worshipers today sit in the same wooden pews as those original parishioners. The grand scale of the room makes this an unlikely place for a puppet show, but puppetmaster Paul Mesner has created a cast of dozens of giant-scale puppets that do the room and the subject matter justice.

Actors climb inside oversized sheep, camels, and the traditional cast of the Nativity story. Once in costume, the heads of the puppets tower over their hidden masters and seem to come alive due to the ingenious way the arms, hands, and heads are loosely mounted. As the actors make their way from the back of the cathedral to the stage, their kinetic energy transfers to the puppet’s extremities, causing them to bob and move in a clearly odd and unnatural way.

When combined with their large scale and the angular cubist design of the puppets faces, the odd movements of the figures do not detract from their personalities, but work to further enhance their visual interest, drawing you deeper into their story. The play closes in Bethlehem with an array of Angels flying overhead, and the rest of the substantial cast pouring in from the rear of the room, moving through the audience to finally crowd into the manger for a glimpse of the newborn holy child.

The dialog is reverent and true to the original story, yet funny and at times contemporary. Thanks to music director John Schaefer and the voices of the Trinity Choir from Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, instrumentalists John and Beth Titterington and Judy Johnson, the performance is as beautiful to listen to as it is to watch. Paul Mesner Puppet Studio created the puppets, and costume design is by Christopher Leitch and Gabby Baculi. Performances start tonight and run through Sunday. If you plan to attend a performance, get your tickets right away as the shows always sell out. And arrive early to claim your spot on the old pews or you might find yourself standing in the back beside the camels.

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