The Irish standard., 1900-09-01
THB ACTORS IN THE SACRED IRAMA
Mayr. is Missed This Year from
the Leading Role.
BUT He Is SEEN IN THB PROLOGUE
None Can Equal Rosa Lang as the
Mother of Jesus.

Ten years. production of the "Pas-
sion Play" at Oberammergau has not
been unmarked by the change in the
character of the sublime drama and
the manner of it's presentation on the
stage. How it's first production COM
pares with it's last is a question that
few can answer, for comparatively
few persons outside the immediate
vicinity of the town have had the op-
portunity to make the comparison. In
1890 the passion Play" was fortunate
in having such a group of actors for
the leading parts as is not likely to be
found twice in a century, and the most
of these could not. for one reason or
another, play the same parts this year.
Even this village, which forms players
of the bible story, as it We're, out of it's
own earth, may never find another
man who can play the part Of the
Christ as Joseph Mayr played it. There
was notrin the village another woman
with the madonnaliKe face of Rosa
Lang to play the mother of Jesus.
The fine face and figure, the majes-
tic presence and the stern force of the
old boroughmaster, Johann Lang,
could not be found again for the part
of Caiaphas. And to these were ad-
ded two who are among the best in the
play this year, Johann Twink as Judas
and Peter Bendl as John.
1t is not to be denied that spectator
of ten years ago on seeing the play
this summer feels now and then that
something which he remembers is
wanting. Bits Of the action and the
speech here and there are not quite as
they have been carried in the mind
for all these years, and with all the
admiration for the play as it is there is
touch of disappointment that it is not
wholly as twas. But when the play
is seen a second and third time some
part of this feeling passes away, and
it is seen that where there has been
change it is not always worse, but
sometimes merely different, while at
one or two points it is actually better.
1t is much to the credit of Anton
Lang, who plays the Christ, that
those who now see the play for the
first time are hard to pursuade that it
could be done better. GLOW did
Mayr's performance compare with
Lang's?" they ask, with anxiety in
their tones. The candid judge is
obliged to answer that Mayr's was
better. They insist on an explanation
as to how it could be better, and this
involves the necessity Of speaking in
terms which it is hard not to make
ungenerous of the young man who is
striving with all his strength for the
hard task, and is succeeding in it as
far as he has strength to succeed.
Lang plays his part with the earnest
sense which every dweller in Oberam-
mergau has-that to play his part well
in the 'Passion Play" is the chief end
Of life. He plays it with the feeling
that he is representing one who is
more than human. There are times
when he conveys this feeling to his
audience, and this is especially true In
the last scenes Of suffering. But when
the comparison is demanded it must
be simply this: Mayr did all that Lang
does. Moreover, he had q sweet,
sympathetic and powerful voice,
which Lang has not, and he had
that strange quality commonly called
magnetism of which Lang has little.
Neither does Lang yet see the depths
of the part as Mayr saw them. He
is a young man and he will probably
improve. Ai'tAl:
It is a pleasure still to see Mayr's
commanding form and to hear his fine
voice in his part Of the prologue.
Whenever the chorus appears he
stands in the middle of the line and
-recites the words which introduce and
explain the scenes and the relations of
the tableaus to them. Enough has
been said Of the actors of 1890 and
there is no need of comparing them
each to each with the actors of this