Script for a nativity play or pastorela Gift of Teresa Leal de la Rosa Castillo
This worn notebook contains a script for a play dating back centuries in its roots. Nativity plays or pastorelas began as a type of medieval drama developed by the Roman Catholic Church to teach religious subjects. Plots derived from the Bible, but over time additional characters and events were added to the popular plays. The Spanish brought several of these plays to the New World during colonial times. They were performed generation after generation. Sometimes they were passed down orally; occasionally they were written down in cuadernos or notebooks like this one.
The script for this play was written down in 1923. The donor of the notebook recalled that it was performed in her grandfather’s neighborhood in Harlingen for many years year during the Christmas season. The plot is about Los Reyes Magos, the three kings or Magi, who travel to worship the infant Jesus. (Christians remember this event on Epiphany or Día de los Reyes, January 6.) Other characters in the play include King Herod, Mary and Joseph, angels, and devils.
This play has very ancient roots. A twelfth century drama, Auto de los Reyes Magos, is believed to be one of the earliest pieces of theater in Spain. By 1536, a similar play, Adoración de los Reyes Magos, was performed in what is now Mexico.
Another play called Los Pastores, based on the shepherds’ travel to see the baby Jesus, is known to have been performed several places in what is now Texas. To date, however, few if any other any other performance or scripts for the Three Kings nativity play are known in Texas.
Detail of script with lines for the three kings: Melchor [Melchior], Valtazar [Baltasar], and Gaspar.
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