Three Magi — two of them played by women — rode camels through a council estate near Portsmouth last Sunday, as part of a community nativity play which starred local residents. Worshippers at St Clare’s, Warrern Park, recruited 36 residents to tell the story of Jesus’s birth, and managed to produce camels from Joseph’s Amazing Camels in Warwickshire. The creatures were tethered outside during the performance, with sheep and goats. Donkeys were permitted entrance. “We know that the kings took three years to get there in real life, but it was an amazing way to tell the story,” said Annie Martin, a Reader, who played Caspar. The play was written by Carolyn Owens, who is married to the parish priest, the Revd Jonathan Jeffery. Cast members were given the chance to improvise in rehearsals to find new ways to tell the Christmas story