For Silent Night, designer Erhard Rom erected a massive three-tiered set with very few other pieces, allowing the soldiers and other actors to 'decorate' the spaces, grouped by nationality. This edifice was augmented with carefully selected drops and meaningful projections that were incorporated into the flawless lighting design by the ubiquitous DM Wood. Simplicity of presentation was the key, as was clarity of the multiple characters and their relationships to each other. To that end, Tomer Zvulun's assured direction used economy of movement, isolation of areas, and layered uses of scrims. In one brilliant directorial stroke, I was suitably startled by the house lights coming on suddenly to announce the commencement of wartime hostilities, interrupting the duet being performed onstage at the Berlin Opera, and setting the perfect tone for all that follows.

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