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Show I IOWN [ TOWN OWN OF THE PASSION PLAyl PLAY PLAYw PLAYr , . , w r q I - s sr r " I j 1 ' vy Y Yyr e , yr s sr rI I //r r / / 54 1 1ft n Si ft F ' 3 3M,9 / M,9 M9 M,9w , w s sJudas Judas JIl to Pnvate Private Life Paints Pictures PicturesOberammergau Oberammergau Gives to the WoddDrama Wodd World WorldDrama Drama of Christianity Every Decade Prcpired Prcpned Prepired by M-it M it Nt Nit , - onal dial Geo Geoer Geoar r phI phic phle " Society Societyablungton SocietyJashungton SocietyWabtungton \/ablungton ablungton \Jashungton Jashungton \ / \ D CNU C-\\NU C NU C -\NU NU - \ WNUScrvce WNUScrvceA , \ Scrv Sety ce ceACHANGE ceA ceCHANGE A CHANGE which empha emphasizes emphasizes emphasizes ACHANGE A empha/-\ empha / - \ sizes unchanging unchangmg tra- tra tradition tra tradItlOn tradition - dition dItlOn has taken place placem placein placeinOoerammcrgau m in Ooerammcrgau Ooerammergau Germany Germanythe Germanythe Germanythe the small Bavarian Bavanan town townwhere townwhere townwhere where every decade a per per- performance performance performance - formance of the Passion PasslOn Play Playattracts Playattracts Playattracts attracts thousands of vIsItors vIsItorsThe visitorsThe visitorsThe The change came throughthe through throughthe throughthe the death of Anton Lang Langfor , for thirty years the former formerChnstus formerChristus formerChnstus Chnstus Christus of the Passion PlayDeath Play PlayDeath PlayDeath Death however , changes the theplayers theplayers theplayers players but does not stop the thepresentatIon thepresentation thepresentation presentatIon of the PasSIOn PasSIOnPIa PassionPlay PassionPla PIa Play ; } which for centuries centunes has hasbeen hasbeen hasbeen been performed to fulfill a avow avow avow vow of the villagers in m the theSeventeenth theSeventeenth theSeventeenth Seventeenth centuryUntil centuryUntil century centuryUntil Until about 150 years ago the s ght ghtof ghtof ghtof of the towering towermg mountains mountams filled fllled the thepeople thepeople thepeople people of Oberammergau w \ th awe awein awein awein in fact tear fear and they were lookedupon looked lookedupon lookedupon upon more as drawbacks than as asobJects asobjects asobjects obJects of beauty and msp snap rat onThe onThe on onThe The custom ot of offsett oflsett ng the de depressing depressing depressing pressing effect of the loom ng rocky rockybackground rockybackground rockybackground background by vivid color still stlll pre prevalls prevails prevails valls vails and besides old but ever fresh freshfresco freshfresco freshfresco fresco paint pamt ngs depicting deplctmg scenes scenesfrom scenesfrom scenesfrom from the B ble on the walls of o1 thehouses the thehouses thehouses houses new ones are beginning begmnmg to todecorate todecorate todecorate decorate several homes These sho v va va va a more modern trend and general generally generally ly are done by young } oung Bavarian ar artIsts artists arlists tIsts They lend vivid VIVJd color to a astreet astreet astreet street scene already bright wlth with wlthhouses withhouses withhouses houses painted pamted yellow p nk nJ . green greenand greenand greenand and blue blueHardly blueHardly blueHardly Hardly a house lacks a balcony balconyand balconyand balconyand and this like all an the w wndov ndo\\ ndo ndow ndoslIls \ sills slIls IS isI isI 1 I ned nod \ with Ith , a profusion of flowersGreen flowersGreen flowers flowersGreen Green shutters and painted pamted framesaround frames framesaround framesaround around the windows put a spec al alstress alstress alstress stress on the eyes of most homesUsuaUy homesUsually homes homesUsually Usually UsuaUy near the door in large largeletters largeletters largeletters letters is exhibited the name andoccupation and andoccupatIon andoccupation occupatIon of the owner"ho ownersho owner \ who \"ho "ho ho \sho sho " mJght might mJghtwell mightvell mightwell well \vell vell \ appear to be the proprietor of ofthe ofthe olthe the entire cntIre valley vaIley as he complacently complacentlywalks complacentlywalks complacentlywalks walks through the streets and fieldshills fields fieldshills fieldshills hills and mounta ns Born here he hefeels hefeels hefeels feels himself part of all aU th s sIn sIn sIn In the Home and FieldsThe FieldsThe Fields FieldsThe The inside lDslde of his b brthplace rthplacebreathes rthplace rthplacebreathes rthplacebreathes breathes the same sp nt tit The cen center center center ter is not the kitchen1 kitchen vl \\1 1 ssl \ , ence the thehealthful thehealthful thehealthful healthful frugal meals come but butthe butthe bu buthe < the living l1vmg room with a carvedwooden carved carvedwooden carvedwooden wooden crucifix cruclflx solemnly hang ng ngm ngin ngin m in one corner There is the cradle cradleof cradleof cradleof of family l life e There the men and andIVomen andWomen andwomen IVomen Women and children assemble asscmble asscmblehen \\hen hen where wherethey \ nhenthey henthey they shopThe come home from field or shop The fields yield just enough grass grassfor grasstor for the cattle and potatoes for the the e villagerhave vII1agershave villagershave most of the vII1agers villagers have their own 1 ttle ttIe the gardensFarmhouse gardensFarmhouse gardens gardensFarmhouse Farmhouse and stable are usual ' usua'ly usualy usually ly in m one building bUJldmg This sa sas sa\es sa es \ , es the thepeasant thepeasant thipeasant peasant many a step in m bad weather weatherand and keeps kecps him hlID always near h s be beloved beloved beloved ' loved cows which in m turn help sup supply supply supply ply ntciTl v \ ' armth in m the long cold w ntci ntcr nter ntcrTl nterT1 [ Tl T1 e a arrival of ot the Wh te to K 11 . ng ihailed IS hailed IShailed by everybody eerybody e\ e es \ erybody tor for the thick thic : thickblankct thickblanket blanket blankct he always spreads over the themountams thmountains themountains mountams mountains and the valley does not notmean notmean nomean mean be ng buried burled for tour four or flvmonths flvmonthsOberammerfcau five fivemonths fivemonths months monthsOberammerl monthsOberammergau Oberammerl Oberammerfcau Oberammergau > au lies hes in about ahout the thesame thesame thsame same latitude as Montrealand Montreal and andmasses andmasses animasses masses of snow cover the moun mown 3tect 30fect 30feet mourtains mountams mowntams tams at times bmes to a depth ot of 30 fect feet Many visitors come to try tr ; trytheir ' their luck on skis and skiing sklllJg be becomes becomes comes an easy accomplishment accomphshment tor for tothe torthe forthe the local youngsters youngstersSt St Peter DlstnbutesIIlk Distributes Dlstnbutes Milk \IIlk IIlk ! \ I HubertMayr Singing Slngmg MilkSinging IIlkSlngmg andwhlstlmg andwhistling and whistling whlstlmg Huber Hubert , Mayr the St Peter Petcr ot of the Passio PassIOn : ? PassIOnPlay Play drives his little httle pony cart * carthrough cartthrough through the town every day d s ' ; trIbut strIbut ng milk among the people , peoplet peopleHow How happy and pleased he is that thatat thatat thaat at last h life lle ! s s dream has Come corntrue Cometrue SPeter true and he has become St St . ( . Peter ' , Rutzthe Rutzthc The meek meck manners of Hugo Rutz : thc the v Uage llage blacksm blaeksm th would never r nevelead neverlead lead one to guess that on the stage he stagihe stagehe Caiaphas was the fiery high priest pricst Cala Caia Calaphas Caiaphas phas inciting incItmg the mobaga mob aga nst nsJesus nstJesus Jesus JesusAnton nsJesusAnton Anton I r echner teacher of draw Ing drawIng at U e local woodcarv schoolis ng school IS just lust as much of ot a surprise surpriseLudwig Ludwig Lang fierce lookIng lookiniBarabbas Barabbas on the stage is a peaceful peacetucowherd peacefulcowherd cowherd who may be seen walkmg walking walkuialong walkmgalong walkingalong almosany almostany along tl tI e a street at 6 o 0 clock almost ) any mom morn ng driving dnvmg a herd o of cows into the fields and hills hJlls and andnot andnot annot not return ng until unbl 6 at nightThat night nightThat That is the r r-ish r ish 1sh ish - hour for the CO cov coy " s sand sand sand and traffic has to comply with their theirwh theirwh theirwh wh ms as they slowly trot home homelard homesurd homeward \lard lard surd \ never m ndmg ndIng the honking honkmg of ofautomobiles ofautomobiles oautomobiles automobiles that might get gct into intothc intothe intithe thc the r path pathThe pathThe pathThe The Play Is Their Life llJsslOnJust MissionJust \ Mission l\lJsslOn l lJsslOn MissionJust Just as the ab lity l1ty to act seems to tobe tobe tbe be in the blood of the majority maJonty the thepeople thepeople th'people thpeople ' people of Oberammergau Oberarnmergau hold a adeeply adeeply , _ deeply inbred mbred feel ng of personal re respons respens respons spons spens bility bll1ty toward their Important Importanttask importanttask importantask task their sacred tradit tradlt on They Theylve Theylive The : ! live lve and die for their play They do donot donot dinot not play to ! live lve but live to play- play playwh playwh play playwh - wh ch may at times tlIDes appear incom lncom incomprehenslble lncomprehensible mcomprehensible prehenslble prehensible to the hurried hurned traveler travelerrushmg travelerrushing travelerrushing rushmg rushing m in and out agam again without withoutever withoutever withoutever ever penetrating penetratmg more deeply decply mto into mtothe intothe intthe ( the meaning meanmg of the villagers work workhabIts workhabits workhabits habIts and customsAll customs customsAll customsAll All amusements such as dancmg dancing dancmgare dancingare dancingare are prohibited prolubIted during durmg the sol d year yearof yearof yeaiot of preparation for and concentra concentrabon concentration concentration bon tion upon the Passion Play Yet Yetthe Yetthe Yethe the village during durmg its sue SIX month months monthsof monthsof ; of rehearsing rehearsmg under Georg Lang s smost smost ! most able direction ( there are more morethan morethan mor morthan < than 30 families ot of the name of ofLang ofLang oLang Lang in m Oberammergau ) dons fes festlve festive festive tlve tive attire atbre Houses look more at attracbve attractive attractive tracbve tractive Gardens streets w \ walksand alks asks alksand asksand and parks bum hum with actIvItyThe activity activityThe activityThe The year 1940 will display about aboutthe aboutthe abouthe t the same course of things thmgs but butthere butthere buthere t there will win be more buses and auto automobiles automobiles automobiles mobiles from May until September SeptemberOnce SeptemberOnce SeptemberOnce Once again agam for a period penod of flve five flvemonths fivemonths flvimonths months the village will be handed handedover handedover handeiover over w sv Hy IIy fly nilly mI1y nrlly to the countless VIS VISltors visitors visitors ltors itors their tl1elr prejud preud ] ces and cntl crits cntlCJsms critscisms cnticisms CJsms cisms their theJr whims whJms their adm ra ratlon ralion ration tlon lion and praise of what is but nat natural natural natural ural to those laboring labormg in the homes homesand homesand homeand and playing playmg on the stage of the themammoth themammoth thimammoth mammoth theater before 6 200 spec spectators spectators spectators tators occasionally as often as fie fire fietlIDes firetunes 6\itimes 6 itimes \ , tlIDes tunes a week . . How lIow the Play Is PresentedFrom PresentedFrom Presented PresentedFrom From 8 15 a m to 5 2 2o 2a ; > p m with witht withtw willtv t\\ t tw t0 \ , o 0 hours recess for { or lunch the thou thousands thousands thousands sands watch the performance With Withtense withtense willtense tense interest mterest from beginning begmmng to eud end eudnever endnever endnever never turning turnmg their eyes wh ch are areoften areoften anoften often d mmedlth mmed \ with \\lth lth ssith tears from the therecently therecently thirecently recently built bUJlt and modernized modermzed cen central central central tral stageIn stage stageIn stageIn In front ot of it flanked by the house houseof houseof housiof of Pilate PJlate and the palace of Annas Annasopens Annasopens Annasopens opens the proscenium proscemum 140 feet feetwide feetwide feewide wide on whlch-r31U whlch r31U which-rain which rain which - ram or sunshmethe sunshine sunshme- sunshme sunshine- sunshinethe sunshinethe - the mass scenes take place plate and the thi47 47 members of the chorus-all chorus all chorus - all local localtalentappcar localtalentappear locatalent talent-appcar talent appcar talent-appear appear - appear led m In and out by bythe bythe bjthe the maest majest ] ) c figure of the Speake Speaker Speakerof Speakerof ; of the Prologue whose task is to m in mtroduce introduce introduce troduce each act of a tableau He Hehas Hi Hihas ' has more Imes lmes lines than any other mem member memher memher ber her of nf the thp cast pa it _ There are 24 of these art stlcally stically stlcallyset sticallyset ] set and lavishly mounted p stlcallyI cturesIrregularly cturesirregularly ctures cturesirregularly I irregularly scattered scattercd among the 16 16I 16acts 16acts 1 ( I acts and representing representmg scenes from fromI fromthe the Old Testament I I runn rurID ruin ng rig parallel parallelw parallelsv 1 w sv th the New NewThe NewThe The very beginning begummg of ot the per performance formance announced by the boon- boon boom boomof boonof boomof - of a cannon dlschargedon dischargedon discharged dlscharged on ads adstant a ds dstant d tant hill hilI plunges the aud and ence mto into mtodeep intodeep mt ( deep silence sllence and absorpt on Or Orchestra Orchestra chestra choir prologue and tablcaw tableauii tab tableaux leauiihe leaux lcaw leauii . he ghten this tlus thus mood then the thectlI'tallJs thecurtains ( curtains ctlI'tallJs ctlItallJs ' partImpressive partImpressive part partImpressive Impressive Climax of ot the Drama DramaNow DramaNow Now Christ Chnst triumphantly tnumphmty : ] entersJerusalem entersJerusalem enters entersJerusalem Jerusalem The jealous priests pnests be begm begin gm gin their workagainst workagamst workeagamst , H m wh Ie IeChrist Ie le IeChnst leChrist Christ Chnst bids farewell tarewell to His Mothel Mother Motherand Motherand and friends fnends at Bethany before returnmg re returning returning turning turnmg to the city of at His HJS doom doomThere doomThere doomThere There the last Supper unites Him Himand Himand Himand and His twelve disciples once more moreJudas moreJudas Judas hastens away to betray HIsMaster HisMaster His Master in the Mount of OlIvesChrIst OlivesChrist Olives Christ is seized seIZedThe seizedThe The afternoon sees sel's sels ' Him before thehigh thehigh the high counc council slandered mocked mockedand mockedand and jeered leered and eventually sent to toPontius toPontius Pontius Pilate P ate who passes Him HlID on onto onto to King Herod Peter repents hissm hissin his hissin sin sm of denial demal dental whereas Judas finds fords noway noway no way out but the ropeChriSt ropeChrist rope Christ is scourged and crowned crownedwith crownedwith with thorns and presented presentcd to arlgmg araging a araging hJghestdramatic highestdramatic raging rlgmg . : mob in a scene of ot hJghest highest dramatic values Pilate finally finallyhands hands Him over to His enemies enemiesand enemiesand enemiesand andIth and \ with \\Ith Ith the Cross on His bleedmg bleeding bleed bleeding ing mg shoulders Christ staggers up toGolgotha toGolgotha to toGolgotha Golgotha to be fastened to the theCross theCross Cross to d e pierced by a spear m in mreal inreal real st c e mannerWe mannerWe manner We see sce Him rise again agam from the thetomb thetomb tableaux tomb and in the thc fipcst finest fl > cst of ot all tab leaux ascend to Heaven . . . _ |