Dramaturgs' Note: Celebrating Christmas Around the World

Rejoice, we’re back in person. Rejoice, the semester is almost over. Rejoice, that your family member is coming back to health. Rejoice, Jesus wins in the end. Whatever it is, rejoice. The theme of Christmas Around the World this year is Rejoice. But rejoicing isn’t always joyful. Just as Adam and Eve had to learn joy from pain, good and bad often go hand in hand. So while we celebrate this Christmas season, let’s reflect back on what we’ve had to experience to help us rejoice. In this modern day and age, the pain and hardship we see with the Covid-19 pandemic have affected us all. The announcement of a global pandemic, and finally the world moving forward, has been a major part of our history. March 12, 2020, will forever be remembered by many as the day Brigham Young University shut down and everyone left. Not knowing what the future would hold or how long the hardships were going to last, we pushed forward. The pandemic remained dominant and still rages on. With the 60th anniversary of Christmas Around the World being postponed, we learned even more what that pain can do to foil our joy and rejoicing.

Finally, we can begin to rejoice because today we are back together, in person, and enjoying dances from around the world. Through perseverance, we gained the ability to be even more grateful for that which we have once more. Though hardships do unfortunately exist, the good that comes from them can be appreciated far more if we allow those same hardships to soften our hearts.

Christmas Traditions

As the Christmas Season approaches, the world becomes brighter and better when we turn towards tradition. Whether that’s a favorite food, a favorite song, or just the season, this can be a very joyous time of year for all people. As we reflect on traditions, we look specifically at Scandinavia, including the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Around the Christmas holiday, Scandinavia celebrates Advent, a traditional holiday ritual. It’s a way to light the world as we get closer to the celebration of Christ’s birth.

On each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, families, and friends gather together and sit down to light a candle representing something they hold dear to their hearts. These are often ideals, such as hope, healing, joy, and humanity.

The word “Advent” derives from the Latin word “adventus,” meaning “coming,” as in Christ is coming. So it seems only fitting that a song that is traditionally sung in connection with Advent is the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” While on the surface, this hymn is about the birth of Christ, a double meaning in each of the verses is the idea that we are also preparing now for Christ’s return. In the original version written during the eighth or ninth century, it was written with repeating O Antiphons. The verses originally were sung: “O Sapentia (Wisdom)/ O Adonai (Hebrew word for God)/ O Radix Jesse (stem or root of Jesse)/ O Clavis David (key of David)/ O Oriens (dayspring)/ O Rex Genitum (king of the Gentiles)/ O Emmanuel/ (O Virgo virginum [virgin of virgins]).” If you take the first letter of the second word of each antiphon it spells SARCORE. Which, if read backwards, forms a two-word acrostic, “Ero cras,” meaning “I will be present tomorrow.”

With hope and joy, we not only look back and rejoice, but look forward to Christ’s return. As the candles burn to signify the light that HE brings into the world we can look forward, knowing that although life might be hard right now, there is an immeasurable amount of joy and happiness that is waiting for us.

Carol of the Bells

Although not rich in lyrics pulled from scripture, unlike Handel’s “Messiah,” “Carol of the Bells” reminds us about the important need for hope during the Christmas season. Like the Israelites in the first century, we await a Savior to return to the world and set everything right. As we wait, we remember the first time our Savior came to earth and brought hope to the world. Through this song, we can also discover the importance of hopeful lyrics during the most difficult times of our lives. The original version of this song was composed during one of the greatest atrocities the world had ever seen, the first World War. People had never witnessed destruction to that caliber. Finally, “Carol of the Bells” shows us that we can transform something and make it into something beautiful. We may find that throughout our lives God shapes us from one thing into another. The song originated as a New Year’s tune, but now, almost every church sings the song for the Christmas season. No matter what the case, God can use us as a vessel for hope, to bring cheer to people no matter what the season: Christmas, New Year’s, or another time of the year entirely.

- Mark Geslison (Mountain Strings Director)

With the pandemic and the way the world is changing, now is the time, more than ever, to have hope for the future. We saw a world shut down in what felt like a matter of moments and we are just now beginning the process to step out of the turmoil. Carol of the Bells, written in a time of turmoil during World War I, was striving even then to portray hope and joy amidst the heartache and pain. Just as Carol of the Bells states, let us “send on without end [our] joyful tone to every home” this season as the world is still trying to recover from our turmoil, and let us turn to hope. Let us understand the pain that we had to go through and turn towards joy that combats the pain. Rejoice, Jesus is the Christ. Rejoice, it's Christmas time. Above all else, rejoice!

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With The Long Christmas Dinner spanning a full 90 years—starting at the 1850s— and both Pullman Car Hiawatha and The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden generally occurring in the 1920’s and the 1930’s, extensive research went into each decade that couldn’t possibly all fit into the Study Guide for A Wilder Night. Hence a 4th Wall Post (or two) was born! 1850’s The 1850s saw a lot of technological advancements and connections. The railroad network and the telegraph network helped the nation economically. Immigrants from Europe were spilling into the US. Mills that popped up throughout the North East, and with the railway expansion, food from Midwest farms were able to get to the South and East. The California Gold Rush beckoned prospectors from all over the US and China. The North was becoming incredibly urban and industrialized, while the South remained very rural. The Irish came in droves, trying to escape the Great Famine in Ireland. Due to their poverty and Roman Catholic views, they were ostracized and pushed to underdeveloped neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City (predominantly). They also were forced— due to their unpopularity— to do the low-paying yet physically demanding jobs. The Germans also came to America to avoid the rising disasters in finances in Germany. In contrast, they usually sold their possessions and came to America with money. They tended to be educated and middle-classed and were generally more trusted. Manufacturing made up about two-thirds of the nation’s economy, with cotton material being the chiefest amongst the factories and mills. Cotton was in high demand throughout the world and the South met that need. However, because cotton can destroy farmland, these cotton farms were moving west. In the Northern part of the Southern states, tobacco plantations were slowing down, and slavery dying out. Sadly slavery continued to survive due to the slave trade which sent many of them to the cotton plantations. Slavery was a contentious topic at the time. America was gaining new states, particularly in the Southwest/Midwest. Much of this decade was spent in political dispute. Texas was annexed as a slave state and would lead to a war with Mexico as well as the American Civil War. The Mexican-American war ended in 1848, and the US got California, Utah, Nevada, parts of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona. However, this war stirred up contentious feelings about slavery. Democrat David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in Congress, which states that slavery would not be allowed to spread into any territory from Mexico. It was extremely unpopular to the southern states who felt it would infringe on state rights. Another compromise, known as the Compromise of 1850, was prepared by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun… It wasn’t actually a compromise. It was just a series of arguments in Congress that continued to polarize each party. It was eventually passed as five bills. California was a free state, and New Mexico and Utah were given popular sovereignty. It abolished the slave trade in Washington DC and passed the Fugitive Slave Law (which approved the return of slaves that had run to the north, back to the south). This sparked controversy and the novel/play Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published and gained popularity. The Kansas-Nebraska Act reversed the compromises by allowing the new states of the Union to decide their stance on slavery. It also led to the formation of the republican party who opposed expansion of slavery states but weren’t absolute abolitionists. 1860’s When Lincoln was elected president, the Southern states seceded and established themselves as the Confederate States of America. The Civil War began when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opened fire on Union (northern) troops at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. In response, Lincoln sent Union troops to reclaim it, which meant invading the South. The Union had the upper hand in terms of population, industrialization, and transportation. The war was a defensive one on the South side, which meant if they could hold the North at the border line until they gave up, they had a chance at winning. They only ever invaded the North as a shock-tactic to scare Yankees. Everyone believed it would be a short war, but it turned into four years’ worth of bloodshed. The war ended with Ulysses Grant trashing Georgia and South Carolina, trapping General Robert E. Lee and forcing his surrender. The war left the Union strong and hearty; the South was financially crippled and devastated. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, four days after the news of Lee’s surrender reached Washington DC. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1866, the first law to protect African Americans. It was vetoed by President Johnson, but the veto was overridden by Congress. However, the KKK formed in secrecy to discourage African Americans from voting. They spread terror and crime, stunting racial equality progress despite the Civil Rights Act. The West continued to be settled. Alaska was added to the Union and with the final golden spike driven into the ground at Promontory, Utah, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined, thus creating the transcontinental railroad. 1869 ended with Black Friday in New York City and one of the first successes for women’s suffrage— a law passed in Wyoming Territory unconditionally guaranteeing women the right to vote. 1870’s Everything continued to keep progressing and rising— literally, everything. Technology, conflicts, imperialism, literature, and drama, etc. The telephone, light bulb, phonograph, steam drill, and headphone jack all made their debuts into society. Yellowstone became a national park. Racial/Civil rights continued to make some headway with the first African-American to be sworn into Congress and the 15th Amendment being ratified, giving black Americans the right to vote. The Great Fire of Chicago roared (thanks to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow) and caused 196 million in damages, leaving 90,000 homeless. A fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin spread across six counties and was the deadliest fire in US history. The Women’s Crusade of 1873-74 is started when women in New York marched against liquor stores and created the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. This would later culminate in prohibition. Another win for women: Rutherford B Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue in Supreme Court cases. Conflict with Native Americans came to a head in 1876 when a government issue ordered them into reservations throughout the West.. The famous Colonel Custer and the 7th Cavalry engaged the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes and were completely razed— none of them made it out of this battle alive. A year later, Crazy Horse (leader of the Sioux tribe) surrendered in Nebraska due to cold and hunger. However, another war (the Nez Perce) started in Idaho Territory, due to the constrictions of the reservation system. 1880’s As easier access to communication and travel became more available, American life began changing radically. Clothes, food, equipment, appliances could all be mail-ordered via catalogues (Sears and Roebuck) and were brought in from all over the country. With that, jarring and canning became more and more popular, as did the ever-popular (and personal favorite) carbonated soda, Coca-Cola. Public schools and universities grew stronger from demand. Immigrant parents in particular were keen to get their children as integrated and adjusted as possible. New classes and courses were offered in history, sciences, and arts. Universities also burgeoned, not just in course development, but in quantity. In particular, Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Leisure became a new feature to life, giving way to sports (an Amateur Athletic Union) and vaudeville. Zoos, museums, and amusement parks were created. Literature began targeting the middle class— Mark Twain entered the scene with Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The Wall Street Journal published its first post. Politics, as ever, were a strange place. James A Garfield was elected President, but only barely. He was shot in a railroad station and died two months later from infection, and his Vice President, Chester Arthur, took over. Congress repealed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, so people could discriminate based on race. Work conditions took center stage as the Haymarket riot blew up in Chicago after a three-day strike over eight-hour work days. It was followed by other labor battles for worker rights and unions. The Federation of Labor was later formed by 25 craft unions. Architecture and art were combined in the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by the Statue of Liberty. Groundhog Day was established. President Cleveland protected prehistoric features in Arizona, making them lands that can’t be settled or sold. Text by Hannah Gunson-McComb; Image research by Christina Porter

Dramaturgs' Note: Celebrating Christmas Around the World

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