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All Is Calm
All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 is a musical based on a true incident during World War I. It is written and directed by Peter Rothstein, with vocal arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach and music by Erick Lichte.
The musical is set on The Western Front during Christmas in 1914. Amidst an intense war, a German soldier enters No Man’s Land (the place that doesn’t belong to either side) and sings Stille Nacht. This brings more soldiers to the front, not to fight but to mutually agree to stop the war for the time being and enjoy the special night in peace. Music, peace, and camaraderie between the soldiers are the themes of the musical.
Inspiration for the Musical
Peter Rothstein says he read WWI in high school, but none of the books even mentioned the Christmas Truce. The event occurred only once but made its mark. Thousands of soldiers who have been fighting, hurting, and dying decided to lay down their arms for a day and meet soldiers from the other side for Christmas. They exchanged little gifts like tobacco, chocolates, and rum. Some even shared photographs of their loved ones.
They sang their favorite songs, played soccer, and helped the other side bury their dead men. The soldiers weren’t enemies but people trying to find peace and closure in the toughest conditions. They wanted a few hours for themselves to celebrate Christmas in whatever way they could. The truce lasted for a short time, and soon the troops went back to their respective sides and continued the war for the next four years.
This small yet remarkable incident affected Peter Rothstein. He found it poignant that the soldiers braved their superiors, the governments, and everything else to show their human side (even if it was only for a few hours). He called the soldiers heroes for taking this step. Rothstein was so inspired that he decided to share it with a larger audience by turning the incident into a musical.
All is Calm is a radio musical with two major elements- music and text. He got the text from various sources, such as journals, letters, documents, etc., belonging to soldiers and war officials. He also went through old radio broadcasts and inscriptions on graves to create impactful text for the musical.