The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-10-12
THE SWISS oBER-AMMERGAU.


 Features of the Passion Play" at sel-
 zach.
 In the charming setting of the mead ows and orchards which slope from the foot of the precipitous Jura, the village of Selzach is again holding it's Pas sion Play" There is this radical diff ference between Ober-Ammergau and Selzach, that, whereas the Passion Play" of the Bavarian village is an outcome of the religious feeling of the place, and was organized without a thought of the outside world, that of Selzach was admittedly conceived by way of imitation, and with a view to a performance before the general public. The success of the play and the atten- tion it has drawn to the village are complacently referred to in the official programme, and the steps which led to it's production are detailed with pride It appears that MT. Schlaf1i, a gentle man resident at Selzach and a large employer in the watch trade, visited Ober-Ammergau in 1890, and was sc struck with the interest and beauty of the sacred tragedy there enacted that he determined to invite his village tc give similar representation. A schooImaster of musical ability was se- cured, and three years were spent in forming competent choir and secur- ing music which was considered sulta- ble. Representations were given ir 1893, 1895 and 1S96 and it was then de- termined to erect a building especially for the purpose. The present year is the first in which this building has beer used. It is built of wood, entirely roofed in, and designed to seat twelve hundred persons. Several features o1 Wagners' Theater at Baireuth have been adopted. There are no boxes ol galleries, all the seats being in rows or an inclined plane; access is given by 2 number of doors, each allotted to the holders of seats of certain numbers and the hall can thus be cleared in g few minutes, and the orchestra ant choir are sunk out of sight The rep resentations are usually given on Sun days, and last during the greater par of the day. The first part commence: at eleven o'clock and terminates a about one o'clock the second com mences at half-past two o'clock anC does not conclude till after five o'clock The seats are of three classes, ant substantial prices are charged, the pro ceeds going to defray the cost of tn | hall and other expenses, for which { considerable debt has been incurred.
 A SELF CONSCIOUS REPRESENTA- TION.
 | The self-conscious character of tn Selzach representation undoubtedl, deprives 1t of the peculiar interest at tacling to the play of Ober-Ammergau Some persons will go further and ques tion the good taste of deliberately pro | ducing an entertainment of this char acter at the end of the nineteenth cen tury. In England there could hardl. | be two opinions on the subject Bu the Swiss are not quite as the English | They are less sensitive to the thinnes of the line which divides the sublim from the ridiculous, less activity on tn | lookout for the humorous side 0 things; they are more matter-of-fact and at the same time, though not de | monstrative, not at all ashamed o l their enthusiasm. Moreover, Solothurl | Gin which SelZach Is situated-only foul l miles from the town of the same name | is a Catholic canton, and the practice and forms of worship of the Roman | Catholic church lend themselves to re alistic views of the Passion and othe incidents of the Gospel story which ar not congenial to Protestants. Hence though the Passion Play" of Selzacl