The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-05-25

iiiusiSai 10 tue bCNooitihsttT
Gruber.
Arrangements have beer made at Obcr-
ammergau for lodging more han 5000
persons. In the less p~retentious houses
the price of q bed ranges from 80 pfen-
nigs n2 cents) to 3 marks C5 cents /; In
the more elegant establishments from 3
to 5 marks (75 cents to Sl.25l. The num-
Der of persons connected with the perfor-
nance In various capacities Is about 900,
all Of whom are natives of Oberammer-
gar. Even natives of the n~eiRhbvring
villages are not allowed to take part in
the play. This exclusiveness extends to
the most subordinate roles, TO the most
Insignificant supernumeraries n the
little children In the tableaux, and is In
accordance with time honored and invoil-
able tradition. This is a feature Of the
performance of which the Oberammer-
Rauers are particularly proud. No mar
ried women take part in the play.
The Oberammergau theater has been
rebuilt and greatly enlarged, and will seat
at least a third more people n for
merly. The body of the building is AZ
metres wide and 81 metres deep from the
entirely reconstructed n improved,
under the direction Of Herr Lautenschla-
ger, the famous machinist of the Royal
opera in Munich, and the scenic effects
will unquestionably be very fine: The
drop curtain is adorned with Michael
Angeles Moses in the center and the
prophets jeremiah on the right and Isaiah
on the left. The decorations, AZ in all,
nave bee furnished by Burghardt in
Vienna, and are admirable in every re-
speet.
takes place on May Is. Meanwhile the
parts are being diligently studied piece
meal in private dwellings and In the
village inns. The profane device OF
periwigs is vigorously excluded, and all
H. - .Ean and AlrV-
dren. wear long hair. The Carpenters
Son" and his lowly disciples. as they may
be seen at present in their common work.
ing clothes going about their daily avoca-
tions, remind one of the familiar forms In
Fritz o Uhde's religious paintings.
The Passion play, as here interpreted,
deals with the life and sufferings of the
Savior from his entrance into Jerusalem
to the ascension, and Is divided into three
acts or '.haupt obeilungen,n with any
number OF tableaux each. The first act
contains seven scenes and closes with the
arrest OF Christ on the Mount by the Ro-
man soldiery. The second act has ten
tableaux and closing with the condemna-
ton OF Christ to death by PLATE. The
third act, and by far the most interesting,
deals with the march to Golgatha, the
cruciixion and finally the resurrection. In
the first two acts each tableaux from the
life of Christ is preceded by a vorhied
from the Old Testament, generally some
scene with prophetic reference to the acts
and sufferings of the Redeemer.
Time and the wave OF skepticism which
has well nigh engulfed the religious scnti-
ments of the rest of Germany have left
these simple villagers with their faith and
simple piety untouched. Every morning
before the performance begins the per
formers en- masse partake OF the holy sac
playhouse; and they are chosen solely
owing to the morality OF their lives and
the good rcpute which they enjoy in the
village, and the possession or want of the
atrieal talent has nothing whatever to dc
with their selection.
Should the visitor come 10 the play in q
critical frame of mind, and write about 4
as one would who had witnessed a pre-
mier of q boulevard theater, lac would b'
greatly disappointed. and his criticisms
contain manyd isparaging remarks con
corning the barbarous crudity OF the per