Sample Program for Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

In Celebration of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh 

Script by Anne Perry with sections by David Hoffman; can be adapted /shortened. 

Slide show with titles of Bahá’u’lláh by Anne Perry, with music by Margie DeRosso   

CD music suggested, but live music would be better. 

For 5 readers plus MC and technical assistants 

Reader 2 reads character part, Faris Effendi

Reader 1 reads words of EG Browne
Optional: procession of participants
(Program below photos) 

 

 

  

MC:  Good evening.  We greet you with joy and gratitude in our hearts on this special occasion of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. Because of the special and reverent nature of tonight’s program, we ask that you turn off your cell phones and do not applaud any of the aspects of the program until the very end.

 (PERSIAN TRANSLATION of ANNOUNCEMENTS.) 

And now join us in commemorating the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Music or Persian Chant OR Procession of Participants (ethnic costumes)

        Procession Music: "See the Light of His Glory" from World Congress (or other) 

Birth of the Báb: Character Parts

Marlene Macke has put together a wonderful program as follows (see references at the end):

  

I Knew the Báb

His Early Life through Remembrances of Those Who Knew Him

A Dramatic Reading in Commemoration of His Birthday

Compiled by Marlene Macke

St. Marys, Ontario, Canada

1 November 2016

Cast

Fátimih Bagum, The mother of the Báb

Jináb-i Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, known as Khál-i-A‘zam, The uncle of the Báb 

Shaykh ‘Abid, The teacher of the Báb

Khadíjih Bagum, The wife of the Báb    

Narrator   

Sample Program for the Birth of the Báb

Celebration of the Birth of The Báb     

A program originally created by Anne Perry for the Dallas Bahá’í Community, which can be modified to fit other localities.  Rehearsal and advance preparation recommended. In a small community, this could be done as a spontaneous reading, if scripts are made for everyone.

Staging: Two mics placed on either side of the stage, with beautiful drapes on podium, column, or table (green, gold. . . ) and red roses.  Visual slides can enhance the program, if desired (request slide show).  Dress: can be elegant, historic, or multi-cultural, but shouldn’t be pedestrian. Lighting can be dramatic, warm.  Readers can be seated and go up to the mic on either side in advance of the reading; sometimes there is a back and forth, so it should be rehearsed and noted where a reader should stay standing and step aside, and which mic he/she should go to. Ideally, the program should flow as one element, without applause. Technical assistance is important.  

Participants:    (9–12 readers/musicians/singers and 1-2 technical assistants)

MC can be the same person as one of the readers, or not. 

Persian reader/chanter and Arabic reader/chanter could also be one of the readers, below.

Reader 1:  male or female

Reader 2:  Reader of the Báb’s account, male, strong reader, perhaps in 20s

Reader 3:  male or female

Reader 4:  male or female

Reader 5:  male or female

Reader 6:  male or female

Reader 7: Reader, account of the Mother of the Báb, female

Reader 8: Reader, account of the Wife of the Báb, female

Reader 9:  Strong and poetic reader, female preferred

MUSIC:  (live music may be substituted for CD music)

CD  Smith & Dragoman, Open the Gates     https://9starmedia.com/smith-and-dragoman-open-the-gates

CD Vahid Ndobe, album  “Primal Point”

CD Susan Engle & Jean White Marks, Special Times  “Who Is the Child?” can also use “Song for the Báb https://9starmedia.com/susan-engle-jean-white-special-times

CD Eric Harper, Eric Harper  “Say” https://9starmedia.com/eric-harper-eric-harper?zenid=f0380e47683dac980bb18b9678600359

CD  Remover of Difficulties  (Special Times or another)

Live Persian prayer or poem, chanted (could also have drum or flute); Arabic chant

PROGRAM:  

Commemorating the Anniversaries!

For many years I have been involved in the creative celebration of Holy Days.  I have dragged my husband, who is good with sound, lighting, set design, fabric hanging, and video editing, into various productions and involved other friends and cohorts.  We've staged programs that have had elaborate sets, creative aspects such as music, dance, costumes, sound effects, visual projections, and the like.  The photos below are from a 2016 Ridván program in Austin.

Now, with the inspired guidance of the Universal House of Justice and the application of the Badi calendar system, we are all encouraged to increase our creativity in our commemorations of the Twin Holy Days associated with the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh--particularly in 2017 and 2019, 200 years after their respective births.

In its letter of July 12, 2016, the NSA reminds us that the House of Justice stated that “these Holy Days should be viewed as special opportunities for the friends to reach out to the widest possible cross-section of society and to all those with whom they share a connection―whether through a family tie or common interest, an occupation or field of study, neighbourly relations or merely chance acquaintance―so that all may rejoice in the appearance, exactly two hundred years before, of One Who was to be the Bearer of a new Message for humankind.”

The House of Justice continued: “The locus of activity for the bicentenaries is to be at the local level. The House of Justice anticipates that in countless places across the world, both rural settings and urban centres, the friends will find creative ways to honour the Twin Manifestations Whose lives and sacred missions will be recalled on Their anniversaries. . . .

“At the heart of these festivities must be a concerted effort to convey a sense of what it means for humanity that these two Luminaries rose successively above the horizon of the world. Of course, this will take different forms in different contexts, extending to a myriad artistic and cultural expressions, including songs, audio-visual presentations, publications and books. Such initiatives, coupled with widespread celebrations that are both uplifting and reverent, are also sure to spark the curiosity and wonder of many who may as yet be unfamiliar with the names of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. However, the real transformative power of the Faith is likely to be perceived more readily still if people experience how worship and meaningful service are being woven into the fabric of the lives of Bahá’ís everywhere. Indeed, from the community-building activities of the Five Year Plan emerges a pattern of collective life within which anyone can discern the vivifying influence of the divine teachings brought by God’s Manifestations.”  (US NSA, To the American Bahá’í community for the Feast of Kalimát, 7/12/16)

I would like to offer various ideas and resources that others may draw from, during the next five years. 
And so, not knowing how to create an instant website and maintain it, I have simply begun a blog. It is awkward because I can't attach WORD or PDF files, but easy because I can efficiently post things. (If anyone wishes to collaborate by creating and maintaining a website, please let me know!)