As we near the centennial commemoration of its onset, a revived public and academic interest in World War I is cresting. Publishers have hit bookstore and library shelves with a slew of titles pertaining to the Great War; the smash Broadway musical War Horse is about the travails of an English farm horse pressed into combat service. And now comes Peter Rothstein's All Is Calm. This a capella musical spins off a historically factual incident: On the Western Front over Christmas 1914, a group of Allied and German soldiers laid down their arms and met in the no man's land between the trenches to celebrate a brief, peaceable holiday together. Their commanding officers weren't pleased, but the soldiers sang carols, shared food and drink and even played soccer. Mustard Seed Theatre presents All Is Calm at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (November 8 through 24) at the Fontbonne University Fine Arts Theatre (6800 Wydown Boulevard; 314-719-8060 or www.mustardseedtheatre.com). Tickets are $20 to $25. UPDATE: More performances have been added. There is a 5 p.m. early show on Saturday, November 23, and a 5 p.m. show on Sunday, November 24. Additionally, there is an 8 p.m. show on Saturday, November 30, and shows at 5 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 1.
Thursdays-Sundays; Nov. 30-Dec. 1. Starts: Nov. 8. Continues through Nov. 24, 2013