Go back in time with ‘All is Calm’ at Greater Boston Stage Company

The World War I-set Christmas musical plays in Stoneham through Dec. 23.

The cast of "All is Calm." Courtesy Photo / Greater Boston Stage Company

1 minute to read

If you’ve never been to the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, you’re missing one of the hidden gems of, well, Greater Boston. You can rectify that this holiday season, though, by checking out a very different kind of musical that stands out among all the various Christmas Carols and Nutcrackers — “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.”

Many have heard of the famous “Christmas Truce of 1914” during World War I, when soldiers put down their arms for a day to mark the holiday. But it’s never been told quite like this, featuring music of the era — trench songs like “It’s A Long Way to Tipperary” and holiday classics like “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Auld Lang Syne.”

Much of the dialogue, meanwhile, comes directly from letters, journals, official war documents, poetry, even grave stone inscriptions, according to the playwright, Peter Rothstein.

“The heroes of this story are the lowest of the ranks — the young, the hungry, the cold, and the optimistic — those who acted with great courage to put down their guns, overcoming a fear that placed a gun in their hands in the first place,” Rothstein explains. “Their story puts a human face on war, and that’s the story I hope to tell.”

Directed by GBSC’s Ilyse Robbins, “All is Calm” runs at the Stoneham theater from Nov. 26-Dec. 23.