Wanted: Someone to take on sets, lights, speakers, costumes and food — and organize a 20-minute Nativity show two or three days before Christmas, preferably on a farm in or near Sherborn, Massachusetts.

Barring that, next week’s is the last “Live Nativity” in this semi-rural town of 4,400 about 18 miles southwest of Boston, ending a yearly tradition that goes back nearly 50 years and has occasionally drawn a thousand people or more.

After decades of struggling with putting up and taking down, and running, the show through snow, downpours, mud or zero-degree weather, the Downing family has decided this is the right time to stop.

“If anybody wants to take this over, we’re happy to help. We’d be thrilled. It’d be a wonderful Christmas gift to the community,” said Lisa Shanahan, 55, whose parents, Richard and Joan Downing, started the event sometime during the 1970s.

When exactly is a matter of conjecture — like a legend or myth, the Live Nativity in Sherborn is shrouded in uncertain beginnings. The current director, Joey Talbert, is confident it was 1977, because she remembers being 11 and living across the street at the time. Others propose different dates.

The why is more certain. At the time, the Downings wanted to explain Christmas to a foster child living with them who couldn’t hear and had mental-health problems, as the Register reported two years ago in a feature story about the event. Joan Downing hit upon the idea of acting it out.

Kids for the cast weren’t a problem. The Downings had four of their own, adopted three more, and through the years hosted 30 or more foster children. Joan also recruited neighbors and CCD classmates from the town’s parish, St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Animals weren’t a problem, either, as the Downings kept cows, ducks, chickens and pigs. Neighbors lent the use of an open field just steps from the Downings’ house on Route 16. The family made costumes.

In subsequent years, the family added sets and lighting. At one point, Richard and Joan’s son Peter Downing, now 69, made a studio recording with music and narration, which for the last several decades has enabled amateur actors who show up a half-hour before the performance (7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 22; and 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 23) to follow simple blocking to act out the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

The action includes the St. Gabriel the Archangel appearing to Mary, Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, the rejection at the inn, the walk to the stable, the birth of Jesus, the appearance of angels to the shepherds, and the Wise Men bearing gifts from afar.

The show has now spanned several generations, as some of the founders’ grandchildren are now involved. (Joan died in April 2020 at age 88. Richard, now 93, is ailing.)

Peter Downing told the Register he’ll miss the show, which took a well-known concept to an unlikely level.

“For the kids who watched or participated each year, they learned of the real meaning of Christmas,” Peter said.

“I think many people are grateful for the show, and it sends the right message to kids. It’s a great introduction to their faith,” he said.

Talbert, who has been directing the show for about 15 years, said people who hear about this being the last year are in disbelief, sending follow-up messages to see if it’s for real.

“It’s hitting people hard. They’re sad about it. I’m sad about it,” Talbert said.

She said she understands the need for the Downings to move on.

“It was a hard decision to make. They didn’t make it lightly. Pretty much all our memories of Christmas are the Nativity,” Talbert said.

“It’s the way I’ve been celebrating Christmas since I can remember. It’s how I connect to the actual joy of Christmas,” Talbert said. “Every time I do it, I feel like there’s a blessing for a whole year.”

Donna Keller, 79, who has been going to the Live Nativity since 1984, called this year’s forthcoming presumed-final performance “bittersweet.”

Three of her four children were Baby Jesus. All four of her grandchildren have been Baby Jesus, and they have since played active roles.

Of her own children, the boys were all villagers and shepherds. Her daughter was an angel. Her youngest son, now 38, played one of the Three Kings for the past dozen years with her husband, Bob, who played a king for about 30 years before he died this past September at 82.

She has never played a role in the show herself, but for years she provided baked goods for it.

She said she is grateful for what the Downings have done over the past five decades.

“They’re an amazing, amazing family, and they bring Christmas every year for us,” Keller said. “It’s not Christmas without the Nativity play.”

No one associated with the long-running show wants to close the door completely. Talbert said she’d continue directing it if someone takes over organizing it and finds a place to hold it.

Even Shanahan wouldn’t say never again.

“We are honored and so thankful that we have been able to continue this live Nativity for so long and are at peace with this being the last one for us at least for now,” Shanahan told the Register by text.

Anyone interested in taking over can contact Shanahan through the event’s Facebook page.

 

Matt McDonald is a Register staff reporter and the editor of New Boston Post. He has attended the Live Nativity in Sherborn since 2002, most of those years appearing as a shepherd — and one year as a Wise Man.