What Critics Are Saying:
“I can assure you that Soldier’s Christmas is worth your time…Paradis’s script covers the emotional spectrum, from humor to pathos, from anguish to joy…In fact, the tale is deeply moving…a thread of hope runs through Soldier’s Christmas, an emotion that makes this seem fitting for the season.” — Rick Pender, CityBeat
“You will certainly want to add Soldier’s Christmas to your Christmas to-do list…an impressive work of historical fiction. ..The play is certainly more than a holiday story…It’s inspiring.” — Stephanie Class, Fort Thomas Matters
“In a handsome production Phil Paradis creates a sturdy fiction within the framework of heart-wrenching fact…Be on the lookout for future productions!” — Jackie Demaline, The River City News
“A story of universal significance, Soldier’s Christmas is a timely parable of war and peace dramatizing the choices we all face, showing the impact of World War I on the lives of front-line soldiers and their families on the home-front. With plenty of heart, humor, and gravitas, it’s a wonderful alternative holiday play for modern audiences–a new Christmas classic.” — Robert Allen, award-winning actor and director
“I thoroughly enjoyed this tribute to both the human spirit and the sorrow of war…a strong emotional story that anyone who has either deployed, or been one of the family members left behind, can relate to…Veterans will find the family letters in the story though from 100 years ago very familiar. I hope the broader veteran community and their families have the opportunity to see and reflect on this great play.” — LTC, U.S. ARMY, audience response
Two acts. One hour and forty-five minutes. Act 1: one hour. Act 2: 45 minutes.
Cast: 9 M 5 W
Original production audio/visual link available.
SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS is an epic tale of war and peace set in No-man’s-land in late December of 1914, dramatizing the Great War’s effects on front-line soldiers as well as on their families at home. This original play with song presents the personal stories of disenchanted, battle-weary British and German soldiers who throw down their rifles, leave the mud of the trenches, and join hands in one of history’s most astonishing Christmas celebrations.
SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS was presented in eight performances December 12 – 21, 2014 at Northern Kentucky University’s Corbett Theatre, on the 100th Anniversary of The Christmas Truce. Written by award-winning playwright Philip Paradis, directed by Robert Allen, featuring an all star cast of the tristate’s top theatrical talent.
Produced by Jim Stump and Actors & Playwrights Collaborative with New Edgecliff Theatre, SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS is part of Cincinnati Remembers World War I, a year-long community arts celebration of the Great War’s centenary sponsored by Cincinnati Opera, and part of the Imperial War Museum’s (U.K.) global series of events honoring the centenary of the First World War.
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