All Is Calm
/By MN Original.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 in the midst of World War I is a captivating historical event that has inexplicably avoided becoming common knowledge. When Peter Rothstein, Artistic Director of Theater Latté Da, first heard how the Allied Forces and German soldiers laid down their weapons to sing Christmas carols across the trenches, he knew there was a theatrical production just waiting to be brought to life. Rothstein heavily researched the truce and approached Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach of Cantus, a renowned Minnesota male vocal ensemble, to work on the project with him. In 2007, All is Calm premiered, featuring Cantus playing a cast of soldiers in a variety of dialects, retelling the tale of the truce with excerpts from war journals and letters home all intertwined with Christmas carols. This simple, evocative production has become a holiday staple in the Twin Cities.
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Additional All is Calm performance footage courtesy Michael Hanisch. Additional Photographs Courtesy of: Michal Daniel George Byron Griffiths Photography Library of Congress – Prints & Photographs Division and Serials and Government Publications Division
Special Thanks: Pantages Theater and Hennepin Theatre Trust Steve Olson Karen Nelson
