‘All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914’ @ Stage West
Photos by Evan Michael Woods
—Jan Farrington
“All is calm…All is calm…All…is…calm.” The voices hang in the air, beautiful, hopeful, repeating the mantra. We hope right along with them. How long can it last, this soldier-led Christmas truce along the entrenched battle lines of World War I? Soldiers from both sides, German and British, lay down their guns and walk toward one another—wary, brave, desperate for some kind of peace at Christmas time.
Peter Rothstein’s All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 is a truer than true story. It really happened, was written down in hundreds (maybe thousands) of letters home, and ended (of course) when the generals found out about their soldiers’ and officers’ outrageous behavior.
Stage West’s gift to us this holiday season is wrapped in so many layers: the sheer strength and beauty of the a cappella singing from some of the area’s best double-threat actor/singers; Sarah Mosher’s wonderful grab-bag of military uniforms and gear; Bryan Stevenson’s compelling stage design (audiences literally take sides in this war), plus a mix of lighting, sound, and visuals (smoke, fog, shadows, lanterns, and the noise of battle) created by Stevenson, JoJo Jones and JimBob Brown. It all comes together into an atmospheric sketch of wartime life that’s beautifully fleshed out by the actors’ sung and spoken performances.
Blocky shapes and multiple levels make us almost “see” a multi-level camp with trenches lower down, facing each half of the audience. Fine direction from Stage West’s Dana Schultes keeps things engaging, and in a kind of thoughtful motion that never seems just busy: soldiers meet and talk, sit to read (or write) letters, keep watch, play a bit of football, and sing songs for the “other side” when time hangs heavy. Great singing and gorgeous harmonies are a major focus—but the actors do a terrific job of creating distinct and memorable characters to follow from beginning to end.
The soldiers, who identify their Army unit (brigade, regiment, rifle corp, infantry, etc.) quote wartime poets, read from letters and memoirs describing the war…and they sing, in a mix of Christmas songs (new and old), music-hall tunes, bawdy parodies, and sentimental tunes that make them long for home. The religious hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” becomes “Raining, Raining, Raining.” “Auld Lang Syne” is sung so movingly we can’t help the misty eyes—and then recycled (with the same tune) to skewer the war in bitter, simple lyrics: “We’re here because / we’re here because /we’re hear because /we’re here….”
The Christmas hymns and carols are moments of sheer beauty in a dreadful place, and sometimes shine a light on how alike the troops are. Many of the traditional Christmas songs have both an English and a German version—most poignantly, the German “Stille Nacht” / “Silent Night.” The vocal arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach cover a wide range of emotions and styles, each given its own distinct moment in the spotlight.
The ensemble cast includes: Micah JL Brooks, Jovane Caamaño, Sinclair Freeman, Rowan Gilvie, Danny Horn, Jason Jordan, Caden Large, Brian Mathis, Justin Mayer, and Garrett Weir, with Andrew Nehme Nicolas and Chris Ray as understudies. The father-son team of Randy Jordan (choral direction) and his son Jason Jordan, the show’s musical director, deserves a round of applause along with the singers themselves. Way to prep a choir, guys!
The program lists every song, even the fragments, and all the people played, mentioned, or quoted in the show—a lot of work, and much appreciated. (I’m keeping this program, mostly so I can source the earworms I’m humming.) In all ways, in fact, All is Calm is a generous piece of theater. Generous in its depiction of the soldiers’ humanity and heart; generous in drawing us into the action, down to the acrid smell of artillery fire; generous in its truths about a largely unnecessary war, without discounting the bravery, the “pals” mourned, and the price they paid for years after.
This is a hard show to describe, an experience as much as a story. But whatever, let’s not label it. This is theatre you will long remember…and therefore, not to be missed.
WHEN: December 3-21, 2025
WHERE: Stage West, 832 West Vickery, Fort Worth
WEB: stagewest.org
