Travel

Oberammergau : The World's Greatest Drama

Tim secluded village of Oberammergau, nestling in a valley of the fir-clad Bavarian Highlands, will be a Mecca this sum- mer for British and other tourists, who will travel thither in thousands for the purpose of witnessing one of the tercentenary presentations of the famous Passion Play.

The genesis of the Play is consecrated recognition of Divine intervention, and as an embodiment of simple old-world faith and piety; it is in our day without parallel. The story of its origin is as follows : During the terrible plague of 1633, which sWept through the Bavarian valleys, the Angel of Death hovered over Oberammergau for many days, threatening the hamlet with complete extinction of human life. When forty-eight of its scant population had perished, the village elders-the " Council of Six " and the " Council of Twelve "- Met in solemn conclave in the church, and grasping each other's hands made a holy vow before the altar that, if the Almighty, in His infinite Mercy, saw fit to save their lives and to turn away the scourge from their homes, they would, once in every ten years, perform a play commemorating the love and passion of Christ, as revealed in the events of His latter days on earth. The records bear witness that from that hour " no one died of the plague in Oberammergau," and in the following year, 1634, the Passion Play was duly inaugurated by the surviving vil- lagers in fulfilment of their vow of gratitude.

; In spite of difficulties which seemed insurmountable, in spite of opposition from the State, in spite of fire and flood, that vow has been kept, the descendants of those seventeenth- century peasants have honoured the pledge made by their forefathers, and the Play has been enacted, decade after decade, for three hundred years, the atmosphere remaining unaltered.

Just as the performance of 1870 (the regular decennial year) was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian war, so too, that of 1920 was abandoned in consequence of the aftermath of the Great War. There was a presentation in 1922, but Germany was then in everybody's black books, and it was largely a failure. Then Oberammergau boldly mortgaged its future and built a new £50,000 stage, without the money to pay for it. The hazard, however, was justified, for visitors attended in their thousands and the world acclaimed the Passion Play of 1930 as a great artistic success. It is to be hoped that the foithcoming tercentenary performances will be accorded a similar reception.

Those who have never witnessed, a performance of the play can have little conception-of its Magnitude and glory. For instance, how many know that,' although there are 700 actors in the cast-men, women and children-none but an Oberammergauer, no man who fought in the War, and no married woman may take part in it, or that the play occupies from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with one interval only of two hours for luncheon ?

Here I would point. out that it is almost essential for visitors to pass two nights at Oberaminergau, as the opening of the Play at 8 a.m. makes arrival on the day very incon- venient, and the crowded state of the trains and other con- veyances in the evening renders it advisable to remain until the following morning. Those who propose to witness a performance-particularly inexperienced -travellers-would 'do well to place themselves in the hands of one or other of the tourist agencies, who will relieve them of all anxieties inseparable from foreign travel, and also secure for them good seats at the Play.

What a wealth of new experiences a visit to Oberaminergau brings 1 Upon arrival at the station, one feels a delightful sense of unfamiliar surroundings. The platform is thronged by the villagers, who have come to carry the luggage and to escort those who are to be their guests. Men and boys alike wear their hair long, no wigs being permitted in the Play. Consequently, all allow their locks to grow for a year or two before the production time.

In the summer of 1930, I was fortunate in my house, as well as in my host,. " Joseph of Arimathea." Formerly he had taken the part of St. John ; but' as years roll on, men. drop into secondary roles, Where maturity of face and figure are of little account. For this year's performance he is cast for Lazarus.

At 4.30 a.m.. on the morning of'a presentation of the Play, just as the cold, grey light of early dawn comes creeping through your open casement, the sound of a tolling bell strikes the ear, it being the. custom, of . the actors to attend one or other of the Masses celebrated at the five altars frOal 5.30 to 7.30 in the village church. Incidentally, on the days when the Play is performed services are also held in the Anglican Church, -in Dorfstrasse By eight o'clock the vast theatre is filled with an audience of 5,300 people, awaiting in silence the commencement of the Play. The whole of the auditorium is roofed, but the large stage is entirely in the open-air. In the centre, however, is a smaller covered stage, on the one side of which is the house of Pontius Pilate, and on the other that of Annas; the High Priest, each separated from the stage by a street. The orchestra of fifty musicians is concealed, so that no distraction arises from it. The chorus, composed of men and. women, enters slowly from either wing, and in the middle is the leader of the " Guardian Angels," who recites the prologue to each act. The opening prologue, to be delivered this year by Anton Lang, is strikingly appropriate and beautiful : Ye, who from far and near have come, will yourselves feel a universal brotherhood, as the disciples, of Him who suffered for all."

I would mention that, although the Play is given in German, excellent translations in various languages are available, which permit the action to be followed without The opening scene is Palm Sunday, and the procession, with its central figure, advances slowly amid a crowd of 700 men, women and children cheering Him, and His enemies already plotting His destruction. Then comes His act of cleansing the Temple, and in the altercation that ensues one perceives the culminating point leading to the Master's death. We watch the part that "imperilled profits," prejudice of traditional religion, and hypocrisy play. Magnificently and convincingly are depicted the gradual defection of Judas, the faithfulness of His mother, of Mary Magdalene and the other women who followed Him. The Institution of the Last Supper, the Agony of Gethsemane, the Death on the Cross, the Resurrection and the Ascension are all faithfully presented in accordance with the Gospel narrative, as we have read it ourselves time and again.

Men, with their finite minds, may theorize about the person of Christ and His work, but truly, there is many a moment in the course of this simple and direct forthtelling of the story of our Hero Saviour, when comes the refreshing and inspiring message, " His Kingdom has come." We are made to realize -and at no period in the world's history has the lesson been more sorely needed than at the present time-that the nations are all one before Him, the great International Leader of man. It is difficult for even the most sensitive spirit to find it possible to criticize the presentation, because. all is pictured with strong realistic force and reverent devotion.

This year, as in 1930, the role of Christus has been entrusted to Alois Lang, who follows the vocation of a woodcarver in ordinary life. Thirty-nine years of age, he is a darker and cruder type than his relative, the truly Christ-like Anton, who played the part for the last time in 1922. Still, his face has all the requisite majesty and beauty of expression. With consummate power and unerring touch he reveals the mag- netic sympathy of the Saviour who drew men to Him, as well as His righteous scorn, in which the worldly, the self-seeking and the hypocritical saw their deadly exposure. . •

The two principal women are also happily chosen. - Mary. as in 1930, will be played by the fair-haired Anni 'Rutz, who is a typist in a local office ; while Magdalene is to be Klan' Mayr, daughter of an innkeeper, whose hostelry has been in the family since 1612.

The play is divided into sixteen scenes, seven of which take place from 8 a.m. to noon, and the remainder from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The dates of the presentations are : MAY 21st, 27th, 30th.

JUNE 3rd, 6th, 11th, 17th, 20th, 25th. • Aix 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd, 25th, 29th. AUGUST 1st, 5th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 19th, 22nd, 26th, 29th. SEPTEMBER 3rd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 16th, 23rd.

In conclusion, I would add that the mid-week representa- tions during July and August are not so crowded as those tak- ing place on Sundays. Tourists, wherever possible, would be well advised to fix their visits for the former.

H. B.