Matt Baker.co.uk

NEVER mind these noisy pantomimes - I have just seen the perfect Christmas show.

Silent Night, a musical play by Theatre in the Quarter, in the Forum Theatre on Tuesday, told the story of the Christmas truce in the trenches during the Second World War.

Not an obvious festive winner, you would think, but you would be wrong. Heart-warming was the word for this miniscule, magnificent production, which tapped into the bravery, poignancy and, yes, stubborn humour of war, and sent us out uplifted.

Somehow, on a pocket handkerchief stage, four actors gave us the story of the war, even from its origins, the shooting of Archduke Ferdinand. It was a retrospective commemoration of the ninetieth anniversary of the ending of the great conflict - from a unique viewpoint.

For here were the Blakeleys, two brothers, sister and sister’s fiance, viewing the distant war from cosy Chester, speculating during tea by the River Dee. And here were the Cheshires, the regiment the men joined, one of them just a boy, hankering after adventure.

Off they went to ‘have a pop at the Hun’ and we were with them as the hollow ‘adventure’ took them into terrible suffering in the trenches, as the brave sister swapped Chester infirmary for a field hospital in Serbia.

This was innovative theatre at its best, with talented professional actors backed by a local amateur choir, with minimum props and atmospheric lighting., Through dialogue, narration and song, the deadly story of the Somme was told.

It moved to a climax of the Christmas truce, when Fritz and Tommy briefly stopped being enemies, briefly found a common humanity, even friendship, in a meeting, and a game of football in no man’s land.

It was cleverly and sensitively handled. A rendering of Silent Night brought a lump to the throat. Auld Lang Syne warmed us (in a rather cold theatre!).

The impressive aspect of this production is that it’s an original work. Playwright Helen Newall has produced a well-researched, fine piece of writing. Composer and musical director Matt Baker has woven in original and traditional songs to great effect.

The cast, Elizabeth Bassham, Paul Dabek, Thomas Latham and Jay McWinon, the choir, and the director, Russ Tunney, have done it full justice.

Silent Night is also in the great tradition of community theatre, for there is a schedule of performances in schools and village halls, all sold out. We will all have enjoyed a thought-provoking theatrical treat.

Probably for the first time ever, the Chester Mystery Plays left Chester for two performances in our Cathedral on the evenings of 10th and 11th October. The Mystery Plays were reputedly written by Ranolf Higden, a monk of the Abbey of St Werburgh, now Chester Cathedral, around 1375 and are one of four extant English cycles of plays. Each individual play was performed by members of the local guilds who mounted scenery on wagons and moved through the streets to 'stations' where the audience gathered; it was a way of teaching the largely illiterate populace the Bible story.

The performances were by no means 'churchy' and became increasingly raucous, which is why they almost disappeared for 200 years until their present day revival in the 1950s. They are now performed in Chester every five years and we are fortunate that the 2008 performances coincided with Capital of Culture Year.

In Chester, the cycle is performed over two evenings. The performance in the Cathedral was an abridged version of both parts and was colourful, at different times highly amusing and highly moving, and all set to the most marvellous music by Matt Baker. Congratulations to all the performers and production team - and if you missed it, you'll have to wait until 2013 for the next production in Chester.