7. The Bourne Nativity
Summary: The tyrannical dictator King Herod is raging war with the Holy Land, protected by an Agency known as HEAVEN, run by a women codenamed GOD. A weapons engineer, codenamed Holy Spirit, has created a bioweapon to end the war, codenamed Baby Jesus
Best Bit: The scene between King Herod, his talking Donkey and the Centurion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfDZjSNjz6w
What I Learned: After much campaigning, last Christmas I became a school prefect, one of only a few. Every year it is tradition that this group perform a Nativity. And every year it was the same- safe, boring, terribly edited, short, exactly the same as the last one. Well, this year I wanted to do things differently. I had an idea to update it to a setting something close to the Middle East of today, but without all the political undertones. Make it new, interesting, exciting, and unlike anything people would expect from such a dull and predictable tradition. I was stuck for a title, until one evening a cast member suggested The Bourne Nativity. I worked out a pitch and a poster, called the group together to pitch it, afraid theyd go with something more traditional when really they just expected Id do it the whole time. My biggest mistake here was to mix a film with a live section. I dont think Ill be doing that again. I had my biggest cast to date- 21 including myself, with only 4 of them being fellow Fox boys. I had to work out how everyone would act, and I had a tighter deadline than ever before. Of course, everyone gets busy, and Ive never had more difficulty working around everyones schedules. But the most difficult part was rehearsing the live finale. Short though it was, we only had two rehearsals. One the night before ended in a meltdown and nothing got done, and the other one finished just 5 minutes before the audience arrived. But somehow, like a Christmas miracle, it all worked. But from a creative viewpoint, this was a massive challenge (OK, in the grand scheme of things it isnt that important, but cut me some slack) to reinvent a timeless tale, update it for a modern audience and keep the spirit of the story alive. I tried to make it funny, a little bit cynical, but keep the heart of it, ultimately making it an uplifting tale without being saccharine. Needless to say, nobody had quite seen a nativity like this- epic voiceovers, pyrotechnics, suggested sex scenes between Mary and The Holy Spirit, anti-semitism, german dictators, gym equipment, guns, leather, scaffolding To date, this has been my biggest challenge as a director- the plays were challenging but ultimately rewarding, and the films and documentaries could have collapsed and no one would have cared. But I had a guaranteed audience who I wanted to entertain as best I could. And Ive learnt to stick with a cast who can actually act in future!