Santa’s Feeling Sick

Poetry Theater

A Christmas poem in three voices

Santa's Feeling Sick by Kenn Nesbitt

Adapted from the poem “Santa’s Feeling Sick” by Kenn Nesbitt, from the book A Festival for Frogs.

Summary: This activity involves a performance where Santa Claus is found feeling unwell, and a doctor diagnoses his unusual ailment.

Presentation Suggestions: Encourage students to perform the poem in front of the class. Each student takes on a role, and they should act out their parts while delivering their lines. Santa, who has a non-speaking role, will act out feeling sick.

Props:

  • Santa hat and beard for the student playing Santa.
  • A doctor’s coat and stethoscope for the student playing the Doctor.
  • A pretend phone for the student playing Daddy.
  • Optional: A small Christmas tree to indicate the source of Santa’s allergic reaction.

Delivery: The lines of the poem should be read expressively, with appropriate emotions. Daddy should sound concerned, the Doctor should appear professional and decisive, and Santa should convincingly act out being unwell. This will help bring the poem to life and engage the audience. For tips on reciting poetry, please read this post about How to Recite a Poem Like an Expert.

Characters and Their Roles:

  • Narrator: Provides the main narrative and sets the scene.
  • Daddy: Describes Santa’s symptoms and calls for the doctor.
  • Doctor: Diagnoses Santa and explains his condition.
  • Santa: Acts sick throughout the play without speaking.

Santa’s Feeling Sick

Santa:

(Acts sick in a chair, visibly shivering, reacting to the conversation silently)

Narrator:

Daddy called the doctor,
and told him,

Daddy:

“Please come quick.
Santa’s in the living room
and feeling somewhat sick.

“Santa’s slightly out of sorts.
He’s looking rather ill,
showing certain symptoms
like a fever and a chill.

“Sad to say, he’s shivering
as if he has the flu.
Please come look. I’m sure you’ll know
exactly what to do.”

Doctor:

(Arrives and examines Santa)

Narrator:

Twenty minutes later,
when the doctor bustled in,
Santa got examined
from his elbow to his chin.

Doctor:

“Santa…”

Narrator:

said the doctor,

Doctor:

“It’s as clear as it can be…
You’ve got tinselitis;
you’re allergic to their tree!”

Ending:

End with the children reacting to the funny diagnosis, perhaps with laughter or mock surprise, to emphasize the playful nature of the poem.

Copyright © 2024 by Kenn Nesbitt. Adapted from the poem by Kenn Nesbitt in the book A Festival for Frogs.

Permission is given for individual school classes to perform this play and to make as many copies of the play as are needed for the students’ use. You can find my general permissions for teachers here and my general permissions for students here. For use of this play outside individual classes, please contact me for permission.

Kenn Nesbitt
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