All Is Calm returns to N.C. Stage

Posted on by Thomas Calder
ENEMIES UNITE: N.C. Stage Company brings back last year's holiday hit, All Is Calm. Photo by Scott Treadway

Director Charlie Flynn-McIver describes All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, as “out of the ordinary.” The stage production tells the true story of German and British soldiers during World War I. As the title suggests, a cease-fire is reached during Christmas. The play is onstage at N.C. Stage Company through Friday, Dec. 23.

“According to legend,” says Flynn-McIver, “one German solider stood up and started singing ‘Stille Nacht’ [Silent Night] and [the English] joined in.” The two groups eventually met in the middle of No Man’s Land — the space separating the opposing sides’ trenches — exchanging pleasantries and cigarettes and playing soccer.

The stage production incorporates dramatic readings from diaries, letters and transcript interviews with soldiers who lived through the event. An eight-man choir, led by music director Melodie Galloway, professor of music at UNC Asheville and director of the Asheville Choral Society, infuses music throughout the show.

“It really places a focus on the redeeming value of human nature amid the most base part of human nature,” says Flynn-McIver. “Even though the truce didn’t last, people seemed to feel a sense of hope amid that kind of destruction.”

WHAT: All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914

WHERE: N.C. Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane

WHEN: Through Friday, Dec. 23. See website for showtimes. $16-$34. ncstage.org

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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.
View all posts by Thomas Calder →

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