Vanguard’s ‘All Is Calm’ In No Man’s Land

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Photo courtesy Vanguard Productions

Vanguard Productions' ‘All Is Calm’ at Calvary Presbyterian Church

Vanguard Productions' ‘All Is Calm’ at Calvary Presbyterian Church

There’s a beautifully resonant feeling the issues forth from a cessation of chaos. Somewhere in the night in No Man’s Land in 1914, a few guys got together to celebrate Christmas. They happened to be on opposing ends of World War I, but that didn’t matter. They needed a moment to reconnect with their humanity amongst strangers. Vanguard Productions celebrates that moment in history with a haunting staging of All Is Calm this holiday season. The powerful atmosphere of Calvary Presbyterian Church radiates a chilly warmth amidst impressively moody fog and light by AntiShadows. 

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Photo courtesy Vanguard Productions

Vanguard Productions' ‘All Is Calm’ at Calvary Presbyterian Church

Vanguard Productions' ‘All Is Calm’ at Calvary Presbyterian Church

Director Joshua Pohja conducts the energy of a cast which wades it way through a tale out of history told in the form of letters from the frontline. All Is Calm conjures a surprising range of emotions to the stage for a tale drawn from one of the most horrifying wars in the past couple of centuries. The company of men onstage play Germans, Brits and more marching off to war and dealing with the harsh realities of life in the trenches. 

Pohja and company pull together a strong sense of brotherhood in the immensity of a space that echoes into emotional intimacy even in all the open and empty space. Familiar songs of the holidays give life to historical drama of men far from home dealing with the very real prospect of their own mortality in a trench on the other side of the world. Aside from simple, iconic costuming and stylish lighting, Pohja keeps the production elements to a minimum in a presentation that focusses squarely on the human element of a strikingly tragic point in history. 

Vanguard Productions’ staging of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914continues through Dec. 10 at the Calvary Presbyterian Church, 628 N. 10th St.For ticket reservations and more, visit the show’s page on Eventbrite.