All Is Calm, a play with acapella singing, will open Tuesday, Nov. 11, on Veterans Day and continue on Nov. 13, 14 and15 at the Cedar Street Playhouse. Weeknight performances are at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 15 at the Cedar Street Playhouse.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.finelinentheatre.com/all-is-calm.html.
Director Kim Nisbett said, “The Western Front, Christmas, 1914. Out of the violence a silence, then a song. A German soldier steps into No Man’s Land singing ‘Stille Nacht.’ Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music, peace. This acapella musical, based on a remarkable true story, is told in the words and songs of the men who lived it. Created by Peter Rothstein, it is an incredibly moving and beautiful piece of theatre.”
“We first saw All Is Calm, the Christmas Truce of 1914 nine years ago and knew immediately that it was very special,” Nisbett said. “We wanted mid-Missouri to experience the beauty of the staged musical telling of this moving true story. We were thrilled to produce this incredible story in 2018 and 2019, and our audiences have continued to request this beautiful, very unique musical. It is with profound thanks to our production team, our sponsors, and our community for the support to bring this to the stage for a third time.”
Nisbett added, “There are many individual moments in the story that speak to the heart — heart-wrenching narratives of personal experience that generate goosebumps and tears. However, the essence of this unique event in history is more profound than any one soldier’s story. Even in the middle of a horrific war, men whose differences
made them enemies, found that by focusing on their similarities they were able to create a moment of friendship. What they had in common with each other — the shared deprivations of war, shared music, shared grief, shared sports, shared good-will — created a temporary respite of peace and hope.
“These men ate, sang, prayed, played and celebrated together. And the courageous, unified stand they made together against the death, destruction and despair they faced collectively still speaks to us today. Sometimes differences are worth fighting and even dying over, but we should never define individual human beings only by their differences — instead always look for similarities. Each of us have more in common than we often recognize and reaching out with hospitality, music, and friendship can bridge so many differences, bringing joy, peace and hope.”
