SKOWHEGAN — “Not On This Night” by Evelyn Jones, a play set during the darkest part of World War II, will be staged at 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Skowhegan Opera House, at 225 Water St.

The cast will include Emily West of Waterville plays Jacqueline Brulet, Charlie Staples of Skowhegan plays Reinhold Shultz, and Ben McIntire of Winslow plays Eddie Miller. In December of 2020, because live audiences were not gathering in theaters across the nation, “Not On This Night” aired as a radio show on Wesserunsett Art Council’s local radio station, WXNZ-LP, 98.1FM.

It is Dec. 24, 1944, in France’s Ardennes Forest, where soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge are gathering. A French farm girl, determined to celebrate the season despite the war, encounters two lost soldiers, one German, one American. Despite their fear and distrust, her courage and good spirits create room for them to put down their arms for a time, and even to laugh together.

This year’s performances mark the 10th time director Peggi McCarthy and designer Cary Wendell have presented Jones’s play, starting in January 2002 at the Players’ Ring in Portsmouth New Hampshire.

Sponsored by Holland’s Variety Drug and spearheaded by the Friends of Skowhegan Opera House as a fundraiser for much-needed Opera House renovations, Wesserunsett Arts Council presents this one hour play during Skowhegan’s Holiday Stroll weekend.

Tickets cost $12 and are free for veterans with identification and children younger than 10.

Tickets are available at Skowhegan’s Town Hall, the Chamber of Commerce, and at the Farmer’s Marke, or online at Eventbrite.com.

For more information, call 207-399-3181 or visit wesarts.org/play.