The Annual Christmas Plague --errr Play

I ran the most chaotic Christmas play practice imaginable today. Joseph and Gabriel had a stare-down contest during Scene Three. We had shepherds bumping into and crawling under the pre-set Communion table. No one, including me, was sure of who went where, and did or said what. How hard can a Christmas play be, really? But each year it morphs into a many tentacled beast which only proves worth it when it's all over. I'm a much better support person or delegee (a word?) than a director. Thank God we are serving among a loving and forgiving bunch of people. I'll let you know how it all turns out.