They're a Pre-Madonna Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Youngest Shepherd

'The Youngest Shepherd' is the first of many Christmas plays written by Madge. It is performed in English, albeit with multilingual carols, and tells the story of the Nativity. Joey Bettany plays the titular character, Luigia di Ferrara and Wanda von Eschenau are Mary and Joseph, and the Robin - the youngest girl in the school - is a cherub.

At the Margaret Roper School, Elinor M Brent-Dyer's short-lived school in real life, the girls performed the play, though it is unknown whether they did the same version as the one in the book. ('The Smallest Angel', incidentally, is a real Christmas play about angels looking for a place for Jesus to be born. I was a narrator in it when we did it at infant school.)

Answer: They are both based on a Black Forest legend.

Both plays are called 'The Guest' and are based on an old Black Forest legend about Jesus taking the form of a ragged child and looking for shelter, and eventually finding it with a poor family (the family of a charcoal burner in 'Rivals', and the family of a woodcutter in 'Challenge').

The play in 'Rivals' has to be cancelled due to an outbreak of chickenpox, but we do get to see the casting: Marie von Eschenau plays Mary, Joey is the Archangel Gabriel, Robin is the Child, Deira O'Hagen is a rich woman, and Mary Burnett and Vanna di Ricci are the charcoal burner and his wife.

In 'Challenge', Evelyn Ross, a new Senior, plays the wife of a rich merchant, Felicity Maynard is the Child, Ted Grantley is the innkeeper, and Maria Zinkel and Len Maynard are Joseph and Mary. Jocelyn Marvell is temporarily kicked out of the play for bad behaviour in rehearsals, but gets her part back in the end.

Answer: Reindeer

In order, the Spirit's servants are Mistletoe, Holly, Christmas Tree (Thekla von Stift), Candle (Cornelia Flower), Snapdragon (Evadne Lannis), Carol, Frost, Snow, Peace (Carla von Flügen), Goodwill (Sophie Hamel), and Love (the Robin). The play also features Christmas scenes from the Middle Ages, the 16th century, the 19th century and the modern era, as well as a Nativity scene. Joey, rather fittingly, plays Joseph, with Marie von Eschenau following in her sister's footsteps and playing Mary. Thora Helgersen plays the innkeeper and she and Joey sing Madge's carol, in which Joseph begs the innkeeper for shelter.

The play also features live animals, including Joey's dog Rufus, a calf and a donkey.

Answer: Glockenspiel

As well as being an art teacher, Herr Laubach plays the glockenspiel and is one of the staff members who provides music for the plays. Mr Denny plays the flute, Herr Helfen the cello and Miss Stewart the viola. Joey stars in the play as the Spirit of the Bells, and the play is themed around bells, with each scene mentioning bells ringing at Christmas.

Other Spirits include the Spirit of the Snow (Cornelia Flower), the Spirit of the Christmas Rose (Evadne Lannis), the Spirit of the Holly (Yvette Mercier), and the Spirit of Love (Eustacia Benson). Each Spirit has a solo to sing. Louis Redfield and Thora Helgersen play Mary and Joseph. Vater Stefan, a local priest, comes to see the play and the girls offer to perform it for the poor children in his parish after the Christmas holidays.

Answer: Jack Maynard

Earlier in the book, Joey receives a telegram saying that Jack - who is serving in the Navy - has drowned at sea and has a mental breakdown. However, Fiona McDonald, one of the titular twins, has a vision that Jack is alive, and it is revealed that he had injured his head and been picked up by a fishing boat near Mauritius, and looked after by the crew.

When he comes to see the play, his head is bandaged. Fiona plays a shepherd, along with Mr Griffiths, a local farmer who brings his own livestock.

The play features scenes in a factory, a village hall and a school, as well as the traditional Nativity scenes. Although Joey has helped out with Christmas plays after leaving school, even reprising her role as the Spirit of the Bells, she does not appear in this one, though she does write some of the carols.

The Robin and Emmie Linders are Mary and Joseph.

Answer: The Three Kings

While King Herod (Tom Gay, with Rosalie Way as his queen) does appear in the play, it's the Three Kings who are the focus, and the play is named after them. Madge has written it and based it on the Gospel of Matthew. Lesley Pitt, Primrose Day and Nancy Chester play the Three Kings (the Young King, the Warrior King and the Old King respectively). Verity-Anne Carey, the best singer in the school, is an angel who sings the opening solo, while Loveday Perowne is Mary (although it doesn't say who plays Joseph).

While the Chalet School's Christmas plays in the Tyrol raised money for local children, and their wartime play raised money for the Red Cross, the money from this play is going to the London Mission, as are the toys brought in by the little girls in the play. Emerence Hope loses her role in the play as a young page due to playing a particular irritating prank, and has to play a shepherd instead, though she is glad that she at least didn't get kicked out of the play.

Answer: Blossom Willoughby

Jean is the poor woman's husband, Edris is a barmaid and Julie is a refugee with several children, whose husband has been injured in the Napoleonic Wars. The first scene is set in a pub, where the poor family ask for shelter and Blossom sings a solo for the first time (without having stage fright, to the school's relief).

The carol she sings was written by Madge, with music by Jacynth Hardy, who has since left and is now a professional musician. As well as the modern era and the Napoleonic Wars, there is also a scene set during the Children's Crusade, with Mary-Lou Trelawney as the leader of a group of Children's Crusaders. Each scene has a group of people begging for shelter and reminding their hosts of the Christmas story, which appears at the end. Sybil Russell and Nora Penley are Mary and Joseph.

Answer: King Herod

Although we don't actually see this play, it is a major plot point. Elinor Pennell and Madge Watson are Mary and Joseph, while Verity, Sue Meadows and Rosamund Lilley are all given solos and Mary-Lou is Herod, while Yseult - being new - is given a minor role as a lady in Herod's court. Yseult thinks she is entitled to the part as she has more acting experience and complains to Miss Ferrars, who tries to compromise by having her understudy Mary-Lou.

Unfortunately, this makes Yseult believe that she can play the part of Herod if Mary-Lou is out of the play, and during a skiing lesson, she tries to crash into Mary-Lou and injure her. Mary-Lou, not realising what Yseult is up to, dodges and Yseult injures herself and is consequently out of the play.

This is also the first Christmas play in which Miss Ferrars is involved, and she goes on to produce subsequent plays.

Answer: Madeleine

The plot of the play is that Madeleine, a naive rich girl, meets some poor children who live in a horrible home run by an evil matron (Francie Wilford) and a harsh schoolmaster (Ricki Fry). Madeleine is moved to tears by the misery the children have to put up with and begs her parents to organise a Christmas party for them, and to change the home.

Her father gets the schoolmaster and the matron pensioned off and replaces them with kinder staff, gives the children a nicer uniform and allows them holidays and more time for leisure. During rehearsals, Francie is in a bad mood because she is jealous of Ruey (who has a minor part) and wants to be Margot's new best friend, Margot is also not speaking to Francie, and Miss Ferrars gets angry with both girls for their poor acting, which infects the rest of the cast. Betty Landon, who plays the leader of the poor children, is also in trouble for not bothering to learn her lines, until the other girls put pressure on her to learn them. Thankfully, Margot, Francie and Ruey sort their issues out and the play is fine in the end.

Answer: Rosamund Lilley

Both Chalet School and St Hilda's girls appear in the play. Rosamund is Mary, while Monica Garstin, one of the older girls from St Hilda's, is Joseph. Margot, who takes after her mother in terms of singing, is an archangel and a soloist; Maeve, the Head Girl, is the mother in a modern family scene; and Kitty, another girl from St Hilda's, is the Little Match Girl.

The play features a series of tableaux, as follows: the Garden of Paradise; the shepherds in the Nativity story; a banqueting hall in the Middle Ages; the Three Kings; a parade of people from different classes and occupations; a Puritan family (with Len Maynard as a cruel father); Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Match Girl'; the modern family scene; and the Nativity.

As with all plays in the Swiss era, the proceeds go to the local Sanatorium.