Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-21

JN\o
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
turn to the great tragedy itself. It opens
with the entry of Christ into Jerusalem, to
the sound of rejoicing and singing of hosan.
mas. Men, women and children crowd the
busy thoroughfare, and in the center, riding
upon an ass, comes he who from the first
moment to the last is the object of the de-
vortest interest, the tenderest sympathy
the Christus of Joseph Maier. Across the
inner stage and out into the open wends the
procession, and everyone is held spellbound.
And yet nothing is unfamiliar. 1t is as if q
picture of one of the great masters had
stepped from the canvas. This, indeed, it
is which makes the thing so endurable-nay
fascinating. All the leading personages in
the drama are clothed in the costumes with
which the great italian painters have famil-
iarized us. At a glance one can tell that
this is Peter, or John, or Judas, and SO with
the other characters.
FEW WEAK SPOTS.
It is unnecessary to recapisdlate a play
which has been made familiar by thousand
descriptions, every detail of which is so we'll
known, and of which, indeed, the best text
book is the New Testament. 1t sufficeth to
say that there are only two points in the
fact that we are in the nineteenth century,
and not at the beginning of the Christian
era. One is when Christ is driving the
dealers out of the temple and overthrowlng
the tables of the money changers, and the
other when the Roman soldiers break the
bones of the two thieves. There is nothing
in Daisenberger's drama to lead up to the
earlier scene, and so to impress one with the
grandeur OF ChriSt's protest against irrever-
ence and greed. And with the thieves one
somehow receives an impression of unreality.
But Of unreality elsewhere there is none.
We see Christ in Bethany, in Gethsemane,
before Annas and Caiaphas, before Plate
and Herod, and only in one scene could we
conceive the great Teacher of Galilee
otherwise than Maier has represented
Him. Yet it is a mistake to speak
OF Maier as great actor. Flunger,
who was Maier's predecessor, could, no
doubt, be so described. Maier looks the
part of the suffering Jesus. but in the one
scene in which acting is required we do not
get it. Surely not even Jesus went through
the agony of that bitter struggle in Geth-
semane in manner SO passive as Maier ex-
hibits. His lifelong occupation of carving
crncifxes has made Maier familiar with all
aspects of physical suffering and resignation,
but of the more complex emotions OF spirit
ual torture he can know nothing. But In
the later scene, where resignation and en-
durance only are required, the part is per-
fectly portrayed. We see Him before the
sympathetic Plate and before the scofing
Herod; we witness the mockery of the SOL
diers and the crowning with thorns; we see
Him on the way to Golgotha, and finally on
the cross.
INDESCRIBABLE REALISM.
All is painfully, indescribably real. The
cruci6xion scene, at least, will remain
among the imperishable memories of all
who have witnessed it, and will serve to
bring home to the least devout-minded, as
nothing else could, some comprehension of
the deeper meaning OF the Christian faith.
For % minutes Christ is upon the cross. the
blood streaming from His forehead, hands
and feet, soldier plerces His side, the last
words are uttered, and life seems to be ex-
tinct. After some discussion, Joseph of
ArimdtheG begs the body, and the discipl
with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of Jesus, bear 1t hway to burial. The next
scene gives us the Resurrection, and the
final scene-not the least powerful and effect
i've in this years performance-the Ascen-
sion.
If 1t be said that the much-praised per-
formance of Joseph Maler is here and there
a little inadequate, the same can hardly be
said of any other leading actor. The next
most difficult part to play is that of Judas,
which Lechner filled SO effectively. Johann
Twink, the new Judas, is, perhaps, equally
successful. Now and again he is a trife
stacy, but on the whole the character of
Judas, with its impulsive treachery, its greed
and its remorse, are finely portrayed. The
poorer and less educated part of the audience
laugh once or twice at Judas, and nowhere
else in the play. This has been thought to
imply an adverse criticism on the actor, who
is said at the rehearsal to have overdone his
part. conversed afterward with some of
the peasant audience, and found that they
laughed at tt treachery of Judas to avoid
weeping at the offerings of Christ. Judas
it must be observed, is the second hero OF the
tragedy: he is to 1t what Satan is to the
'' Paradise Lost" Without him, moreover,
there would be nothing to relieve the uni
versal gloom; and so, to the Bavarian peas
antry he takes the place which Lucifer and
his attendant imps took in the earlier form
of he"Passionsspiel.
ROSA LANG's TRIUMPH.
The John of Peter Rendl, the Peter of
Jacob Hett, the Plate of Thomas Rendl,
and the Cdidnhas of Burgernaeister Lang
cannot be too highly praised. Excepting
JOHTt, VINO Is gOOu-1oohluS fOuLH Vi 10, AL
these men have taken the same parts in the
last decade. But there is one performer in
the play to which more unqualified praise
can be given than to any other. 1t is Frau
!ein Rosa Lang, whose impersonation
Of the Virgin Mary was pronounced
by common consent the triumph of the
whole days performance. We see the
mothers joy and pride in her son, her
sorrow at parting, her sympathy with Him
in affliction, her supreme agony at the foot
of the cross. Nowhere is there word over
,harged, strained, or affected. Never before
has woman borne away any of the honor
pertaining to these Ammergau perform
lnces. The first place to-day, however,
must be given to Rosa Lang.
Yet when, from the Chrtstus himself to
,he veriest child in his train, there is so per-
ect and artistic rendering of a great world |
ragedy, it seems gratuitous to praise or |
blame. ''The most wonderful thing I have |
,ver seen" was the verdict of one of the Wis |
tors to the Passion Play" of 1880. am |
iully convinced that this Judgment will be |
ndorsed by SO out Of every 100 visitors to |
he performance of the present year.
Lost Money From His TT unk.