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A school boy thought he was all set to play Joseph Stalin in the end of term play - but it turned out he was supposed to be Joseph of Nazareth.

Russian pupil Ilya Gavrichenko told his parents he was playing the Soviet despot, and so as requested, they made his outfit, including army boots, the red stripe on his military trousers, and a marshal's jacket.

"We even got him a perfect moustache," said his father Fedor, from St Petersburg. "We were all ready for him to be a success."

It was only when they arrived at the performance that the horrified parents realised this was a nativity play and their 12-year-old son was supposed to play a very different role - Joseph of Nazareth.

"He was supposed to accompany the Virgin Mary but there was no time to change the outfit," said his father.

"Each time he went out on stage, the mothers were in hysterics, crying and yowling from somewhere under their chairs.

"My son was lost because of mixing up the part he was playing, and feeling guilty for having done so."