The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-08-26

Next morning the house Of Joseph Malr,
Sa,,t SnJ 81 wonderfully acts the part OF the
in so was pointed out to US, and we went
ta-s !" putchase his picture from his dauRh-
IsIs' VINO had quite collection for sale.
we aeeldentally met Mr.. MAR himself In
she nhlawayI and MS reception Of us was very
pleasing lie advanced and shook hands
with us, talked 70 us, and was ver1 aoreea-
Die. ne Is large man In height with a
sweet, pleasing cOuntenance and an avnras
sion and manner that immediately draws
| you TO him. You feel that In this plain aim
| pie villager you have met not Only one ~ the
| famous men Of Europe, but man whom in
| spite Of his fame, has still the same sweat
pretty character In real life that he portrays
| upon the stage.
The only other person In the cast haa
| the pleasure Of meeting was Peter, played by
| Jacob Hert. Mr.. Hert Is a very handsome
J old gentleman with a very intelligent face
and jovial disposition. | asked him why
they had never played the piece away from
0ber Ammerga1, ana his reply in substance
was that when the piece was played away
from here they would have 10 remove the
entire village. Kopel and all
In the evening the band played through
the village, and at nine o'clock all was quiet,
as when the gun fired then IL was the signal
for all In the play to retire, and they were
ston followed by the people assembled TO
witness the morrow's performance.
Bright and early on Tuesday morning we
were up and went TO mass In the church at
. o'clock. This service is especially for the
performers In the play, and the solemn ser
vice OF the church Is gone through at the
various altaTs. IL was damp, rainy morn
ing, but after breakfast, few moments be-
fore eight O'Clock, we wended our way
through the mud to the theatre. where for
ten hours, with an hour and half for din
ner, we sat sand Teyerently enjoyed the
most wonderful performance 1t has ever
been my goon fortune to witness. The thea
tire Is rough board structure, with a seating
capacity OF 5000, only part OF which Is un-
der cover; the larger part being thoroughly
exposed to the weather, but at least thirty
five hundred people sat there all day in the
rain to witness what Chas. +. Stead, Of the
London Review, calls ''The Story that trans
formed the world" and well were they re-
paid, for 1t Is something remarkable. The
stage itself is divided into five divisions;
two, one on either side, for the chorus to en-
ter and exit, two more set with street scenes
of Jerusalem,-all Of these scenes being open
and tpermanent. The centre OF the stage.
Is devoted to the main action OF the piece
and has curtain to lower and raise from
the centre and all modern appliances for
stage effects. This portion Of the stage Is
under cover
Promptly at s o'clock the gun was fired
and the first act Of the seventeen commenced.
1t was preceded, as all Of them are, by the
| chorus, consisting Of eight men and ten
women, who sign sort Of prologue TO each
| act, and the curtains are drawn aside, expos
ing view or tableau from the Old Testa-
proper Is to be. Father Daisenberger, who
for 30 years was priest In Ober Ammergau,
and who compiled and arranged the present
edition Of the play, had arranged all these
tableaux. Thus the Old Testament Is ma
as It were, the massive pedestal for 0
cross.
The act proper begins, after a tableau Of
Adam and Eve driven from the garden Of
Eden, with the entry Of Christ lntO Jerusalem
on an ass, and the driving OF the money
| qhannarG from fha fHQnpto This In the nIaU
Is made the subject for His persecution
throughout the entire play, aud only ends at
the. .Crucihxlon. The quiet, subdued, dignihed
manner In WHICH Mair plays the part OF the
Master throughout from this scene on,
stamps him an actor OF rare genius. His
| scenes are all portrayed true to the life Of
the Saviour, as we are taught to know him.
/ In the CrucihxiOn scene, which Is the most
L horribly realistic spectacle l have ever seen
| on any stage, he Is hungi on the cross for 20
l minutes, his head resting lifelessly on his
/ breast, and only raised twice, once to ask for
/ water and again, when he raises his eyes
heavenward, and says, Father forgive
/ them; they know not what they do"
| This Is simply beyond criticism. A remark
| able scenic effect Is produced In this scene,
where he is pierced In the side with the
spear. The spearhead Is by some mechanl-
cal arrangement filled with blood and as IL
strikes his side, the blood is discharged, pro
duclng fearfully realistic effect and one
that caused shudder through the entire au-
dience in which at this time there was scarce
dry eye. The next scene. the descent from
the Cross Is another remarkable one. In
this Miss Lang, as the Virgin Mary. shines
forth In great strength. 1t needs but single
glance at her to show us In how simple yet
l touching a manner the varied emotions
L called for hnd Interpretation. The most pa
| thetic figure In tue Passion Play, TO me, Is
/ not Christ, but His mother He Is sublime,
| she is truly pathetic. A Rosa Lang is not to
be found every ten years at Ooer Ammergau
and fortunate indeed are they to have one so
thoroughly capable Of pOrtraying the grand
est example Of true w0manhOOd that history
furnishes Indeed does IL seem so strange In
this little village that so much talent and
genius Is to be found, and one can hardly
realize that it is the plain wood-carver or
village blacksmith that you see before you
enacting the roles Of Christ, Caiaphas and
Pontius PLATE. as we'll as the other charac-
| ters calls for In Scripture.
This letter would not be complete without
a reference to Caiaphas (Johann Lang) and
| Judas (J0hann Zwink) The former, the
| High Priest, presents 10 you man with q
| distinctly avOwed purpose that will brook no
interference until 1t Is attained, and at the
i Crucifxion, when 1t Is accomplished, there
| is no trace Of pity in the grim satisfaction
i which has accompanied its success. Mr.
l Lang causes the character to stand forth
1 with lustre that makes IL almost impOssi-
/ BILE to realize that he Is the man we saw on
| Friday evening seated at the plain wooden
| table over mug OF beer. ~ a
Mr.. Twink, the Judas, has a remarkable
character part to act, a part that so easily
can be oyeracted but 1t IS only fair 10 him TO
| say that never at any time does he Oyeract
his part or forget for an instant that he Is
Judas the traitor, and In the scene before the
SanhedTim, where he realizes the enOrmlty
OF his crime, and filings the price of his bar
| gain, at their feet his acting Is truly wonder
| full. His terrible cry II am traitor" will
ring in the ears Of many of us when many
| other principal incidents Of the play are for
| gotten. His despair and suicide is the
| crowning incident Of his successful rendi-
1 tion.
At $50 In the afternoon the curtain de-
| scended on the Ascension. and we left the
theatre feeling that In eight hours we had
| seen the whole grand WORK Of the Christian
| church, a story, a truth, that has lived 1900
| years, and is destined, because OF its truth,
4 to live forever, and feeling how much better
| the world would be II 1t could only see the
i story portrayed as we had up there In the
quiet village Of Ober Ammergan.
| JAS. L. WILKINSON.