The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1897-12-16
THE PASSION LECTURE.
FIR. Cleary's Brilliant Success Be-
fore a Bio Audience.

of the Fl y-eagle type. His oratory is
the oratory of clearness and convic-
ton. From beginning to end of the
lecture the youngest child in the
crowded opera house could understand
every point made and will be able to
tell the story of the Passion Play
years hence.
Fir. Cleary visited Oberammergau,
in Bavaria, in 1890, where the play is
enacted every tenth year, and in that
year there were multitudes of people
gathered to see it from all parts of
the world. The history Of the play is
peculiar.
In the early part of the century the
little village of Oberammergau, with a
population of 1000 people, was visited
by a deathly plague. The people
gathered in church to pray for the
cessation of the plague and vowed
that if God took the plague away they
would give representation of the
Passion work of the Savior, and thus
hold up before the eyes of men more
wildly the work of the Savior as long
as there we're inhabitants in the vii
lage to do it. The play was thus the
outcome of religious VOW and was
meant to serve religious ends.
All the actors were ordinary Bavari-
an peasants. The boys and girls of
the village from their earliest child
hood had one ideal in life, and that
was to become, when grown up, an i'm
personator on the stage of one of the
men or women connected with the life
of the Lord, or of the Lord himself.
In the play altogether, there were
$50 people and these all had grown
up keeping before them from child
hood the particular man or woman
whom they we're to impersonate. The
play began in May Of each decade,
and continued till September. It was
a representation of the whole Passion
work. Each play lasted eight hours,
and was given every Sunday. Since
the train had been brought near OBJ
erammergau in 1870 the crowds of
visitors had been so large during the
season, that often the theatre which
was seated for 1000 people, could not
nearly contain the audiences that
sought admission, in which case the
play was repeated on Monday.
The feature with which every visit
or was struck on first seeing it was the
naturalness of the acting and wonder
was always expressed that uneducated
peasants could act their parts so per-
fectly. When the training was under
stood there was nothing to be Won
| dered at. The moment that one sea-
son was over the actors went into
training for the next season, ten years
in the distance; kept up the training
among themselves in their own family
groups and had, in addition to that,
the paid services of the best theatrical
instructors in the country. Josef
Maier, for example, who took the part
of the Savior, had been in training for
80 years and did his part so realistic
ally that the universal feeling OF the
great audience, when Maier hung on
the cross, was, that they stood face to
face with Calvary itself. On days
when the play was repeated on Mon
day, Maier was so exhausted all the
rest of the week that he could scarcely
walk. By rests under his feet, band
around his body and supports under
his arms he was supported as we'll as
mechanical ingenuity could devise
yet the 20 minutes that he hung there
before the audience, tried severely his
nervous system. Mary, the Mother OF
the Lord, was so perfect in all the
parts that she was called on to take
that she never appeared without the
whole audience breaking into tears
The language used was German: but
those who did not know a word OF
German could understand every scene
as it was produced. It was under
stood on the principle that the Ian
guage of emotion is understood by
all.
The audience was always anxious to
know what the daily work was of the
people, who took the different prom
inent parts. Plate was the steward OF
a wealthy lady, Caiphas was local
merchant who conducted business
in the village. Herod was the village
| l.