Little boys in a sand box often squabble over who gets to play with the big red dump truck first. Big boys as world leaders often decide what pieces of land they want to own and it is called war. The powerful men haven’t learned their lessons over time and these wars continue to plague us over and over again. This year West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park is sharing a story of a miracle, when two opposing armies paused in their enmity and conflict and became comrades without guns, on a battlefield on Christmas and, for a few precious moments ceased fire. Until Sunday, December 21, you are privileged to witness “All Is Calm The Christmas Truce of 1914” and witness when humanity took a pause and for a few hopeful days the English army and the German army co-existed in a temporary peace.
This particular story resinates loudly as we endure too many episodes of conflict every day, too much suffering, too much death and dying, too much human sacrifice. This particular story was slated to be shown five years ago when Covid reared its uglyhead and now it is front and center as the holiday season approaches, a beacon of hope in a difficult series of long ceded conflicts. Director Sasha Bratt and music director Benjamin Rauch feel very strongly that this production is 100% accurate, the real words that were spoken, the real tunes that were sung, as if you yourself were in the muddy and cold trenches, tired of fighting, yearning for some relief from the tedium and fear.
A company of soldiers from both sides will bring this event to life, as unbelievable as it may be, when hearing the Germans singing “Stille Nacht” or “Silent Night” on their side No Man’s Land. The English army recognized that magic moment for what it could be: a cease in the conflict, a moment of sharing candy and cigarettes and companionship. Come meet Bruce Barger, NicDaniel Charles, Charles Eaton, Kenneth Galm, Spencer Hamlin, Alex Hunt, Jeremy Luis Lopez, Ryan Phelps, Omar Sandakly, Luke Scott, Niko Touros and Jermaine Woodard Jr. as they recreate the truce written by Peter Rothstein, with vocal arrangements by Eric Lichte and Timothy C. Takach.
This moving and sentimental accounting of actual events gives us hope that wars can be stopped, ended before homes and buildings are destroyed and humanity emerges from the rubble. The grim reality of war is balanced by the incredible joy of peace, if only momentary.
For tickets ($45-55), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860- 523-5900, ext.10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a talk back.
Witness this harmonious gift shared so freely on Christmas when men stopped being enemies and soldiers and became comrades and just jolly good fellows.
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