Rada: A Belgian Christmas Eve

"Rada: A Belgian Christmas Eve" by Alfred Noyes is a play set during World War I that studies the concepts of humanity, war, and the fight to live and love through it all, focusing on how conflict shapes personal lives on Christmas Eve. It takes place in a Belgian village taken over by German soldiers, where Rada, a doctor's wife, is trying to keep her daughter safe from the war. As soldiers fill their home, Rada deals with fear, showing the price of war on people. Nanko, an old schoolteacher who thinks it's always Christmas Eve, adds to the story, becoming a symbol of innocence during tough times. The danger rises as the soldiers show bad intentions, exposing the awfulness of war; but, when a Christmas song plays on a record player, hope appears, hinting that even when things seem bad, kindness and love can win.