OCR Text |
Show THE PASSION PLAY AGAIN. The First Presentation for the Season pf 1900. Americans who visit Europe during the present year will find special attractions at-tractions in Paris. Rome anil Oberam-tnergau. Oberam-tnergau. The exposition, the Holy Year, and the Passion Play will make the coming months memorable in the history his-tory of European travel. A cablegram from Oberammergau to the New York Tribune says that when the last scene , of the last act of the Passion Play was ended, at a little before o'clock on last Sunday afternoon, German critics v. ho have observed former productions declared the performance in every detail, de-tail, except the acting of Lang, superior supe-rior to any of the others presented in the last half century. The day passed off without serious incident. It rained all of Saturday night and early this morning, but . ceased a litle after Daybreak. When the sun rose it was not strong enough to dissipate the heavy mists that obscured ob-scured the mountain tops or warm the valleys. The weather has been bad for more than two months. The few Americans who came yesterday and the day before are preparing to go. Fear of pneumonia is driving most of the foreigners away, and will keep them absent until the season is a little more advanced. Most of those who snt through the performance- of today did so wrapped in overcoats. The air waa chill and penetrating. The performance today, while accessible ac-cessible to the public, was in reality a dress rehearsal given for the benefit of the press association of Germany, some 800 in number. In addition to the German Ger-man papers, a few other journals of the continent hud representathej present. pres-ent. There were four correspondents from St. Petersburg and two from the United States. One-fifth of the satn were occupied by members of the press. The others had been sold weeks before, and were occupied. So the theatre was filled. At 6 o'clock this morning hur,dids of strangers attended early High Mass. There was a chorus of 100 voice?. The services had not been ended before the village band began playing. That iva; the signal for all to go to the theatre. The play began with a solo by the choragus. which was followed by a chorus of 6fi0. Then the curtain rose on the first ableau, "Adam and Eve in the Garden." From that moment until 1 o'clock, when there was an intermission for rest and refreshments, the encire audience sat almost without motion, with eyes and ears strained to catch all that came to the senses. There are 900 persons connected wilh i the play actors, atendants and ushers all natives of the village. Some of the parts that characterized former performances per-formances were eliminated this time by order of the government, but they were minor ones, anc' were not conspicuous by their absence to former attendants. The most Impressive and realistic scenes were the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, Jesus before Pilate and the Crucifixion. Lang, who played the part of the Redeemer, is not so good an actor act-or as his predecessor, Mayr. Mayr was on the stage in the prologue. Lang's voice is not musical, nor are his gestures ges-tures and movements as graceful as those of Mayr. He is too boyish-looking. As he stood before Pilate he came near fainting away. A nervous tremor took possession of his body and perspiration per-spiration streamed from his face. Mayr was near him much of the time and his coaching probably saved him from collapse. Miss Anna Flunger, as the Virgin Mary, captivated the critics. She is little more than a child, and. though it was her first appearance before a big audience, she went through her part with confidence. Mis3 Flunger's voice is strong, yet soft The Crucifixion scene was intensely dramatic, but the lines of agony on Lang's face were too severe. In some of the tableaus representing incidents described in the Old Testament it becomes be-comes necessary for some of the figures to remain absolutely still for minutes. This is trying, but it v. as well done today. to-day. Mayr's e!ocu;Wviary powers had fine scope in his recital of the prologue |