All Quiet on the Western Front

(The following is the Director’s Note which appeared in the playbill).

All Quiet on the Western Front, is an epic work that has been adapted for film (1930,1979) and in numerous television series transcending the 20th Century. The Ignatian Center’s production of All Quiet on the Western Front retells the story of German high-school mates who join the army voluntarily after hearing the stirring tales of adventure, heroism, and glory that are gifted to soldiers fighting at the front for the fatherland. It’s all lies, of course, but deadly effective. The story is centered on the experiences of the 2nd Company on the German front lines during the last year of WWI as they navigate the vicious cycle of tedium, boredom behind the lines, and constant terror when installed in the trenches at the front. 

The adaptation closely follows the events of the novel, as the central storyteller, Paul, speaks about the loss of friends, the deepening of human connections, and the growing realization of what is true and what is not in the face of war. These teens are neither nationalists nor blood-thirsty aggressors and, naively, may think an army enlistment will offer them the opportunity to maintain their beloved high-school camaraderie. They soon find themselves in claustrophobic trenches, infested with rats, dodging sniper bullets and bombs, tired, filthy, hungry, and dehumanized.

Although Erich Remarque’s novel focused on one soldier’s predicament, our production of All Quiet on the Western Front gives an equal focus to each of its characters. This may be the natural progression of the physicality and support required between the play’s cast members, which gives potent sway to the concept of physical theater. Their treacherous journey from village safety into the war-torn territory is conveyed as a body ensemble that slips, falls, separates, and regroups in a poetic mix of taut movements. Like a tableau vivant, our cast stretch and contort to create knife-sharp impact images; frozen in time but with the power to disrupt consciousness. As Paul tells us at the beginning of the show, we are simply trying to tell of a generation of young men destroyed by the war. Our prayer is that we have honored the sacrifice of them and so many. 

A heartfelt thank you to Fr. Guillermo García-Tuñón, S.J. ’87, and Mr. José Roca ’84 for entrusting me these last six years with the honor of leading the Ignatian Center of the Arts. I close my tenure at Belen Jesuit fulfilling a wish to direct a production on this wonderful stage.  My sincerest appreciation and thank you to Mr. Leo J. Williams and Mr. Francisco Padura for being such amazing talented men with whom I had the privilege to work and learn so much. Thank you to all the wonderful young men and women who have graced the stage since 2003. It is a great honor to have shared this stage with each and everyone one of you.

The dates and showtimes are Thursday, March 31, 4:00 p.m., and Friday, April 1, 4:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets. Click here to see the photo album.