Preview: With ‘All Is Calm,’ CenterStage Clovis brings a temporary respite to a warring world

Q: There’s a lot of music. Are the songs and lyrics original, or are they period songs?

A: All the music is from World War I and was originally sung during that era. This show is entirely sung a cappella, in three different languages and at times with different keys in different rhythms. Music was what started the truce. One song “Stille Nacht,” caused peace, silence, and harmony all at the same time.

Q: For me, it’s hard to watch movies or read about World War I because of the close confines of the trenches. It sounds hellish. What have you learned about the war that will stick with you in terms of what the soldiers faced?

A: World War I, or the Great War, was thought to be the war that would end all wars — its impact and scale was something that the world had never seen before. Through the stories of these young men we have learned so much about their experience, their lives, and what they hoped for going into the war, during the war, and as the Truce ended. Disease and fear were definitely a part of the trenches. Although trenches were built using wooden plank “duckboards” and sandbags, it was common to live in the mud and develop a condition known as “trenchfoot.”

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Q: Does anyone in the cast have a connection to the men who fought in the war?

A: Daniel Sutherland’s great grandfather fought in the trenches for the British Army.

Q: What was your biggest challenge in staging the show?

A: One of the unique challenges of this show is that the actors are on stage for the entire production. It was a design challenge to ensure that we could create the different sides of the war by maneuvering the men, using crates, and adding in special effects. The simplicity of the set and costumes juxtaposed with the complexity of the music and the different languages spoken beautifully tells the story of these young men and their challenges in the trenches and peace during Christmas of 1914.

Q: Why do you find this show so inspirational? What larger meaning about conflict can people draw from it?

A: “All is Calm” is a great reminder that at the end of it all, we are all humans seeking peace and understanding. Regardless of the background we come from, the challenges that we face, it is important to treat each other with respect and dignity. The fact that these two sides of the war were able to come together to celebrate Christmas, in the midst of a war, shows that at the heart of it all, mankind is good.

Q: Anything else you want to share?

A: World War I had a huge impact on the arts as a whole — poets, visual artists, musicians — wrestled with Modernism, a shift to be more realistic. What better way to honor and pay tribute to those who served and sacrificed during World War I than to use musical theater as a medium and use their own words and songs that were sung in the trenches to tell a story of hope. In all accounts hope should have been the last thing on these young men’s minds.