ST. LOUIS – By the end of 1914, British and German troops had dug themselves into trenches across the European landscape. The nations of Europe had been engaged in warfare since that summer, and bloody years of fighting still lay ahead.
But, on the eve of Christmas in 1914, soldiers for a short time remembered Christ’s message of hope and peace. On that day, some British soldiers heard German troops singing Christmas carols on the other side of the battlefield. So, the following day, they called an impromptu truce and met in “no man’s land” to exchange presents, take photographs and toast one another’s health.
ST. LOUIS – Played here by Missouri Baptist University (MBU) student actors Greg Carr II and Gavin Young in MBU theatre’s production, “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914,” British and German troops call for an impromptu truce and celebrate Christmas together with traditional carols. (MBU photo by David Ayres)
This historic “Christmas Truce” of 1914 came to the stage at Missouri Baptist University, Dec. 2-3, with an acappella stage production of the musical, “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.”
“It was a beautiful show,” Kasey Cox, MBU director of theatre, told The Pathway.
“The entire show is told through letters, written home from the men who were actually there when the Christmas truce happened,” she said. “So all the dialogue that takes place within the show is actually words from their letters. The music is mostly traditional Christmas carols, sung in English, but also German, French – and there was a little bit of Dutch also. …
“There is so much beauty and hope in a show that’s about two groups of people who are actually at war, who can find unity around the gospel,” Cox added. “That gives me a lot of hope for the future.”
Two hundred people attended each performance of “All is Calm,” ending the MBU theatre department’s year on a strong note.
This fall, the department produced four shows, including “Waiting for Godot,” Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and “Mary Poppins.”
“Altogether in the fall semester, we sold 3,200 tickets, and that is a record for our theatre department,” Cox said. “‘Mary Poppins’ was our largest selling weekend of a musical ever, and we very nearly sold out on Sunday. We had 750 people on Sunday.”
This fall, MBU also approved a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in musical theatre, and the school is currently accepting applicants to join the new program for the fall of 2023. “That’s a pretty big deal,” Cox said. “The BFA is the de facto degree for anyone who desires to perform professionally.”
Next year, the theatre department will continue strong, with a production of “The Crucible” opening the spring semester. Then, later in the spring, a group of juniors and seniors from the department will take their showcase to New York City.
To learn more about MBU’s theatre department, email mbutheatre@mobap.edu, visit https://www.mobap.edu/academics/theatre-department/, or follow the department’s pages on Instagram and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mbutheatre).