The events surrounding the Christmas truce - which took place in 1914, during the first world war, on the Western Front - have long served as one of the most poignant reminders of the universal horror of war. It is the story of how, on Christmas day, English and German forces agreed to a mutual ceasefire and spent the day decorating christmas trees, laughing with each other, and playing a friendly game of football.
For those of us who have never heard this remarkably story before, Alex Gwyther's one man show Our Friends, The Enemy serves as an excellent yet brief history lesson, telling the story clearly and powerfully through the words of Private James Boyce. For those of us who are familiar with the Christmas truce, Our Friends, The Enemy gives an account which is unlike anything which you may have heard before. An account which is innovative and deeply affecting even in its simplicity.
Mr Gwyther's ability to tell a familiar story in such a powerful way speaks to his ability as a writer and as a spoken word artist. One of the most easily overlooked but affecting aspects of Our Friends was the use of ambient music to dictate the piece's shifting mood and how well this was worked in conjunction with the words of the story itself.
The use of minimal props and first person throughout make it so the focus is on the man speaking before you, whether that person is meant to be Private Boyce, or a German soldier for the sake of an anecdote. Our Friends focuses always on what the Christmas truce so powerfully reminds us of: the humanity on both sides of conflict.
In Our Friends, The Enemy, Mr Gwyther has found a way to give a familiar story a new perspective. One that acknowledges the significance of the Christmas truce as an event which showed that, in the midst of war and death, there is always the desire for peace and life. It is a show well worth seeing, as it is a lesson well worth remembering.
