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Show TOWN OF THE PASSION PLAY i " 1 . . ") his X Jh - -4 - r -, . I : V- Mr - - I Judas in Private Life Paints Pictures. Oberammergau Gives to the World Drama of Christianity Every Decade Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington. D. C.-WttU Service. A CHANGE which emphasizes empha-sizes unchanging tradition tra-dition has taken place in Oberammergau, Germany, the small Bavarian town where every decade a performance per-formance of the Passion Play attracts thousands of visitors. The change came through the death of Anton Lang, for thirty years the former Christus of the Passion Play. Death, however, changes the players but does not stop the presentation of the Passion Play, which for centuries has been performed to fulfill a vow of the villagers in the Seventeenth century. Until about 150 years ago the sight of the towering mountains filled the people of Oberammergau with awe; in fact, fear; and they were looked upon more as drawbacks than as objects of beauty and Inspiration. The custom of offsetting the depressing de-pressing effect of the looming rocky background by vivid color still prevails, pre-vails, and besides old but ever fresh fresco paintings depicting scenes from the Bible on the walls of the houses, new ones are beginning to decorate several homes. These show a more modern trend, and generally general-ly are done by young Bavarian artists. ar-tists. They lend vivid color to a street scene already bright with houses painted yellow, pink, green, and blue. Hardly a house lacks a balcony, and this, like all the windowsills, is lined with a profusion of flowers. Green shutters and painted frames around the windows put a special stress on the "eyes" of most homes. Usually near the door, in large letters, is exhibited the name and occupation of the owner, who might well appear to be the proprietor of the entire valley as he complacently walks through the streets and fields, hills and mountains. Born here, he feels himself part of all this. In the Home and Fields. The inside of his birthplace breathes the same spirit. The center cen-ter is not the kitchen whence the healthful, frugal meals come, but the living room with a carved wooden crucifix solemnly hanging in one corner. There is the cradle of family life. There the men and women and children assemble when they come home from field or shop. The fields yield just enough grass for the cattle and potatoes for the people, though most of the villagers have their own little gardens. Farmhouse and stable are usually usual-ly in one building. This saves the peasant many a step in bad weather and keeps him always near his beloved be-loved cows, which in turn help supply sup-ply warmth in the long, cold winter. The arrival of the White King is hailed by everybody, for the thick blanket he always spreads over the mountains and the valley does not mean being buried for four or five months. Oberammergau lies in about the same latitude a3 Montreal, and masses of snow cover the mountains, moun-tains, at times to a depth of 30 feet. Many visitors come to try their luck on skis, and skiing becomes be-comes an easy accomplishment for the local youngsters. St. Peter Distributes Milk. Singing and whistling, Hubert Mayr, the St. Peter of the Passion Play, drives his little pony cart through the town every day, distributing dis-tributing milk among the people. How happy and pleased he is that at last his life's dream has come true and he has become "St. Peter"! The meek manners of Hugo Rutz, the village blacksmith, would never lead one to guess that on the stage he was the Eery high priest, Caia-phas, Caia-phas, inciting the mob against Jesus. Anton Lechner, teacher of drawing draw-ing at the local woodcarving school, is just as much of a surprise. Ludwig Lang, fierce - looking Barabbas on the stage, is a peaceful cowherd who may be seen walking along the street at 6 o'clock almost any morning, driving a herd of j cows into the fields and hills, and not returning until 6 at night. That is the rush hour for the cows, and traffic has to comply with their whims as they slowly trot homeward, home-ward, never minding the honking of automobiles that might get into their path. The Play Is Their Life Mission. Just as the ability to act seems to be in the blood of the majority, the people of Oberammergau hold a deeply inbred feeling of personal responsibility re-sponsibility toward their Important task, their sacred tradition. They live and die for their play. They do not play to live, but live to play which may at times appear incomprehensible incom-prehensible to the hurried traveler, rushing in and out again without ever penetrating more deeply Into the meaning of the villagers' work, habits, and customs. All amusements, such as dancing, are prohibited during the solid year of preparation for, and concentration concentra-tion upon, the Passion Play. Yet the village, during its six months of rehearsing under Georg Lang's most able direction (there are more than 30 families of the name of Lang in Oberammergau), dons festive fes-tive attire. Houses look more attractive. at-tractive. Gardens, streets, walks, and parks hum with activity. The year 1940 will display about the same course of things, but there will be more buses and automobiles auto-mobiles from May until September. Once again, for a period of five months, the village will be handed over, willy-nilly, to the countless visitors, vis-itors, their prejudices and criticisms, criti-cisms, their whims, their admiration admira-tion and praise of what is but natural nat-ural to those laboring in the homes and playing on the stage of the mammoth theater before 6,200 spectators, spec-tators, occasionally as often as five times a week. How the Play Is Presented. From 8:15 a. m. to 5:25 p. m., with two hours' recess for lunch, the thousands thou-sands watch the performance with tense interest from beginning to end, never turning their eyes, which are often dimmed with tears, from the recently built and modernized central cen-tral stage. In front of it, flanked by the house of Pilate and the palace of Annas, opens the proscenium, 140 feet wide, on which rain or sunshine the mass scenes take place and the 47 members of the chorus all local talent appear, led in and out by the majestic figure of the Speaker of the Prologue, whose task is to introduce in-troduce each act of a tableau. He has more lines than any other member mem-ber of the cast. There are 24 of these artistically set and lavishly mounted pictures, irregularly scattered among the 16 acts and representing scenes from the Old Testament, running parallel with the New. The very beginning of the performance, per-formance, announced by the boom of a cannon discharged on a distant dis-tant hill, plunges the audience into deep silence, and absorption. Orchestra, Or-chestra, choir, prologue, and tableaux tab-leaux heighten this mood; then the curtains part. Impressive Climax of the Drama. Now Christ triumphantly enters Jerusalem. The jealous priests begin be-gin their work against Him, while Christ bids farewell to His Mother and friends at Bethany before returning re-turning to the city of His doom. There the last Supper unites Him and His twelve disciples once more. Judas hastens away to betray His Master in the Mount of Olives. Christ is seized. The afternoon sees Him before the high council, slandered, mocked, and jeered, and eventually sent to Pontius Pilate, who passes Him on to King Herod. Peter repents his sin of denial, whereas Judas finds no way out but the rope. Christ is scourged and crowned with thorns, and presented to a raging mob in a scene of highest dramatic values. Pilate finally hands Him over to His enemies, and, with the Cross on His bleeding bleed-ing shoulders, Christ staggers up to Golgotha to be fastened to the Cross, to die, pierced by a spear in realistic manner. We see Him rise again from the torrfo, and. in the finest of all tableaux, tab-leaux, ascend to Heaven. |