When he was a young officer, Hubert Gignoux was imprisoned by the German army during the debacle of 1940. In the Oflag VIII-F where he was detained in Moravia, he encountered Henri Cordreux who, just like him, used to be a member of the Comédiens Routiers (Rovers Actors), a theatre group created among the Scouts de France (Scouts of France) by Léon Chancerel. Together and with the help of fellow prisoners, Gignoux and Cordreaux staged several puppet plays: Molière’s L’Amour médecin (Dr. Cupid) and Le Mariage forcé (The Forced Marriage), an adaptation of the epic poem Huon de Bordeaux (Huon of Bordeaux), and Noël des anges (The Angels’ Christmas), the representation of which they prepared during the autumn of 1943. The heads of the puppets were made of wood and sculpted out of the legs of the beds and tables of the shacks. A few weeks before Christmas, the prisoners were scattered across other camps, and Gignoux missed the performance given by his comrades on December 24. Released at the end of the war, Cordreaux and Gignoux staged, in 1945 in Paris, some of the shows created during their captivity; they then created Marionnettes des Champs-Élysées (1947-1949).

In 1930, the representations of the Nativity performed in the suburbs of Paris and called the “Noëls routiers” (Rovers Christmases) were the starting point for the theatrical work of the Comédiens Routiers. Hubert Gignoux’s play drew inspiration from this experience; it took on the same theme, and presented it like the rehearsals of a play with several new secondary characters.

The play was staged again in 1954 by Marcelle Moynier’s Théâtre de marionnettes de Genève (Puppet Theatre of Geneva) who made several changes.

Saint Pierre (Saint Peter), helped by four cherubs, prepares the scene of the Nativity. He rehearses the hymns, and sends the star to the Rois Mages (Biblical Magi) who are gathering at Melchior’s house, from where they will start the journey. In the stable of Matthieu (Matthew), mayor of Bethlehem, Chérubin (Cherub) gives the animals the ability to speak for one evening; they make fun of humans. Meanwhile, Pascal, the mayor’s blind son, urges his parents to search the stable without explaining what he is looking for. Two shepherds argue before being lectured by a third one who urges them to get going. The Rois Mages stop at Hérode’s (Herod) house, who wants to know where they are going. Matthieu visits the scribe Estève, in charge of the census, and the hoteliers Barabbas and Iscariote (Iscariot): the latter complains about the bad behaviour of his son Judas. Saint Joseph and the Vierge Marie (Virgin Mary) turn up for the census and ask the hoteliers for a room, but they refuse. Saint Pierre takes them to his stable that he sets up for the birth of Jésus and the arrival of the popular characters. Pascal miraculously gets his sight back, and the Rois Mages arrive.