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SJA usually begins their annual concert series in December with a spirited and often nuance-themed Christmas concert that features a musical guest performer like Maria Jette, Gwen Matthews, or Debbie Duncan paired with the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus. Simple Gifts shared a bill with Diane Jarvi and Neal & Leandra have headlined a few concerts, as well. 2007 will be remembered for shaking up the format by presenting a slice of relevant history topped with melodious voices acting and singing. Instead of stringed instruments, dueling pianos and an exquisite caroling choir—don’t worry, these festive offerings will return—we were presented with a radio musical drama presented by Theater Latté Da and the nine member a cappella male ensemble Cantus titled All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Two performances were presented Sunday December 23rd at SJA’s gym, the first one selling out its 900 plus capacity.
SJA parishioner and Twin Cities’ Ivey award winning and McKnight Theater Artist director Peter Rothstein wrote and directed this world premiere, a compilation of quotes from those involved with this miraculous truce held Christmas Eve in 1914. Staging the work as a radio drama underpinned with and featuring a cappella singing, Rothstein scaled down this epic event by brilliantly using three actors (John Catron, David Roberts and Alan Sorensen) to portray three generations of characters involved in the Christmas Truce including a plethora of soldiers, privates and lieutenants as well as Sir Winston Churchill and Pope Benedict XV.
To set the a cappella-like tone for this production, Cantus, first up, performed five pieces including the lovely Franz Biebl arranged “Ave Maria.” Next, the two Artistic Directors, Rothstein of Theatre Latté Da and Erick Lichte of Cantus, briefly discussed their visions for creating All Is Calm. Then this hour length radio musical drama began with the quiet drone of Cantus’ baritones paired with the strong hearty blend of its tenors belting with the tune “Will You Go to Flanders?”
Be-bop Tin Pan Alley sounds of “Come and Join (Alexander’s Ragtime Band)” followed as the three actors clad in black attire and performing in stark reader’s theatre style (scripts in hand and seated center stage but fully engaged in a memorized performance) dived into playing the various characters with their intricate dialects. The ironic “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag” with its “smile, smile, smile” sentiments and the lush barbershop blend of “I Want to Go Home” both pit determined courage with the wicked reality of war surrounding the fate of these men.
The plight of these soldier’s cuts deep like the poignant tone of David Roberts' voice with a working class soldier writing to his son:
Dear Son,
Cheer up and look after your mother for dad.
Say your prayers for me every night so dad will come back to you.
Bless you and Good night.
Or when Roberts quotes Winston Churchill with the great foreshadowing prophecy that took place just one month prior to the great Christmas Eve Truce:
What would happen, I wonder, if the armies suddenly and simultaneously went on strike and said some other method must be found of settling this dispute?
Pope Benedict XV pleaded for an end to the fighting during Christmas, but except for the German troops, his request fell on deaf ears.
In the name of the Divinity, I beseech thee to cease the clang of arms while Christendom celebrates the Feast of the World’s Redemption.
Roberts also voiced the English soldier who witnessed the brave actions of the German soldier who initiated the truce:
Looking out over the parapet, we could see that he had left his trench and was standing on the top bank, in the open and in full view. He then walked towards us and stood in the middle of No Man’s Land. He either had full confidence in the Christian spirit of Christmas Day, or was completely round the twist but, whatever it was, we admired his guts.
When Cantus began singing the gorgeous Lichte arranged “Stille Nacht,” that accompanied the brave actions of a German soldier, one was instantly transfixed by a most powerful moment of historical relevance. Soon the English version “Silent Night” followed as the truce between the German and English soldiers began and then culminated to a most astounding completion: the deep bass voices of Cantus began repeating the lyrics “All is calm” and kept going like a slow moving train gaining momentum. Then the baritones joined in followed by the tenors. “All is calm” was then repeated at full speed, then altogether Cantus sung in unison the final words “All is bright,” a moment of rapt transcendence.
Four other musical moments of winning charm should be mentioned: the hearty buoyancy of “Wassail” with its individual parts that counter each other in various rounds; beautiful tenor solos found in both “O Holy Night (Minuit Chretien) and the reprise of “Will You Go to Flanders?” and a most moving “Auld Lang Syne.”
Though Roberts offers the most pivotal speeches of the play, all three actors (Catron, Sorensen and Roberts) display deft ability handling numerous dialects and craft solid portraits of these courageous soldiers.
Roberts concluded with a sergeant’s hopeful thought:
It was as if we had decided to end the fighting all by ourselves. Could it really have happened like this? If all the troops all along the line had refused to fight, on both sides, would the war have ended there and then? If we had all walked away at that point, could the result have been a truce? I doubt it, but it’s a thought.
and the final line of the play from a working class soldier:
For a single night, No Man’s Land was Everyman’s Land; and we, the lowest of the ranks, achieved what the Pope himself could not: In the middle of the War we had ourselves a merry Christmas.
All Is Calm reminds us that the very good we do in the world we live in is relevant and transforms adversity when we act in good faith. At its very core, it’s a valentine to the soldier’s that fought to protect us and a message of hope for everlasting peace.
Rothstein should be commended for his exceptional foresight in creating this work. From digging up quotes from the soldiers who experienced the 1914 Truce, compiling them to form a rich story line that remains relevant for our war torn time to collaborating with Cantus to musically define this story with the music of its time and integrate them as assorted characters in the story as well. The flawless orchestration of story, music and acting are a testament to the brilliant direction of Rothstein.
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