The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-24

blameless and he IL beloved by all the viiAksis'
but Lang is much nearer the traditional Christ
type. Mayr Is like an old king IN NJ e ,uohss
lie is tall and he makes every one OF ms lnches
count; This y year ssc pc at sseafTs Formerly rns this was
done by the choragus, the leader Of the Singing
band OF guardian angels. But by way OF show.
; Mss s treated h0 iS4 him IL M aSyd the NE n sses's Splendid
costume worn on the Passion stage was de,,
yised for him. HI has. BY the WAY; a sSeS sn.
dressing room inmed,aI.ehly Dr ag} e paIddb him.
'r9 To ,b sne e wso I'd RSST not s ee'i Mayr as tCSr.tus
he does not seem to have been ftted iof ,no
part. Where Nay, r 6 y m gsN,,snss ana sud Humility.
But this humility is never lacking " oisn,,y.
There is indescrlbable sweetness and pauenSe
n m his g. e ss1yiliiy' ON Man, wl!h Is DARK any wIth eyes which
would be likely to blaze under provocation. al
though there is a deep sadness IN them; ,,db any.
on the contrary 1y. q ISir inv win re o, ! eye COMPASSION ma,ss
Of Christ, His hair is beautiful. falling e. about S,nt
on o.. the ,,s street rect he, he spp Dens.rs on Gusp tssss what
remains seems TO be really In harmony WIN the
bearing Of the Man Of Sorrows. -n
1t has been told over and oyer aeun hoT s uS
Passion players enter into Their, paris Lane
Is no exception TO the others. lnthe scene IN tnS
Garden of Gethsemane his face Is often coveiSa
with tears: The cross Which ne es e1 na-ni !. shbss
| variety, and when the sun beats down on nim,
o. it aid the other day, he did actually wlpss
away the d Gsrspd;rqht ,@ T nn1in see the nsn afternoon
| performance OF four hours, the ChrtsfuS speaks
only q few sentences. yet he "a the oentreIor
should be-of the stage during all the speak,tS
scenes. This Is not an easy result TO accom-
plish. and It is the best tribute to Lanes IN
personation that he never becomes a mere na-
ure in the crowd. no matter how nttie ne aoes
or says. lie has a good voice, though n9 v
open TO the criticism which may be made Of all
the players, he is inclined TO DO declHnstory.
This is partly excused however. ay me r isao a.
the play audi bic throughout the great audito-
rum. atask which is harder because the stage
Next to Christ the character in which the PEG
pie take the most interest Is unquestiohaply
Judos, The proof Of the dramatic fsrvor OF
| these villagers is In the history OF this role FOR
named nan Johan, wink was SoIn. John. Es had
an Ideally lovely face and again got h9 part IN
1880. In 1890 the COMMITTEES chose his man
for the part Of Judas and this year ne plays IL
again. We went TO see Herr Twink the other
evening and caught him In his paint-spattereo
working clothes. sitting 10 the bare living room
Of his yine-coyered. broad-eaved house. -
"Do you like to take the part OF Jvdssf-
mo. moi with a shake Of hi. bushy head,
Had you thought OF taking 1t before the
"No, I had never dreamed Of It. But n I
must, / must. This year 1 did want to take
again. because l thought l could DO IL
And do you want to take IT again in 1902
-Nol" earnestly Il want them to give me
another part where ! will be a friend or Jesus.
30 that I can die as his friend"
He seemed to make his role In the play, q
personal matter and felt that he could not die
coming out on the side Of Christ.
Before seeing the play one feels a good deal
OF interest In the part Of Narn, but the role is
striking roles FOR the women. who furthermore
this year al least-do rather badly with the parts
they have, Anna Flunger. daughter or our
friend Tobias the POSTWAR, is the Mary. She
Is the granddaughter Of a Christus and the niece
Of Francieka Flunges who was the Mary IN
1870 and whose impersonation was considered
ideal Tn same certainly cannot be said or
the present MARI, whose chiei reconinenda-
tons are dark hair, large dark ewes and a pa
thetic voice She is only 10. however, and Is
rather handicapped for playing the part Of the
agonized mother Of a grown son, In her own
home, where she helps her mother In the care
OF the house and the dairy. she 10 more at
est siri. Warr MaOdGisn's father has an inn.
30 his daughter has enough to keep her busy.
this year at least.
have taken the leading roles In past seasons.
We walked Into a house the other day 70 look
at some wood carvings and we're waited on by
q portly, almost toothless woman Of about 70.
She was the Mory in 1891 Rosa. Lang. who
was the Mary of 1890. is in a convent.
Visitors 70 QberammerSau ten year ago
Of john the Beloved Disciple, He was only
10 years old then. and now. at %, he is John
again. Three years ago he married a dauah-
Iss o. b. s0s found a'{ Between sea 'f sss 'T pfas ysp IN 4 pf lfis
carvings. NOBODY need shrink. by the way.
players. for in private life they seem to preserve
their stage character. If II. ls admirable, and
70 lose 1t If it is evil. Josef Mayr. for instance,
has quito a. courtly q bearing IN his worst
worn suit OF everyday clothes as he has in his
imposing role on the stage.
Johns father, Thomas Rendl,, y q wood
carver also and makes, a splendid Peter this
year. He takes the place Of Thomas Hett.
who after being Peter for 90 many years had
to lose II whom he got to be over 80, OF The
Bdrtholo,nstr, who is a tailor and makes won
derful Tyrolean costumes for the peasants.
One Of the Jameses Is q farmer. kicodaul~s is
chorus u Q blacksmith. Co'dphos is the grave
digger, Plate is a woodcarver. 70 is Annds
the High Priest, and 30 1t goes, The more
extent 70, which the people identify, them
that both Anton lang and Josef Msyr are
Mayr. There is q peculiar custom here by
which each house has q name and the owners
arc often known by thu, house name better
Krach lives 10 q house whose name is Schus-
teri orgl; next to this Is a house with the
name Schneiderle. A delicious combination.
Of Alois quggemoos and his house name, which
is Zwersl., The power Of the play. however,
Is shown In. the TACT that the house name OF
Josef Mayr's dwelling Is now Chrstusrnavr.
though II was formerly Rapple.
Herod has just now given us another proof
OF the influence the play has on the village
people. He had stopped his work to speak 10 O
passing neighbor twho looked rather like Joseph
Of Arinathsdl, when his son, the Christus, came
ont Of the house and went down the street.
Chrfstus spoke a word or two to the old men
as he passed. They. instead Of going on with
their gossip. turned and watched him until he
was out OF sight. There was q certain GU
riosity expressed In the act which was rather
strange, considering Hsrod and Christus are
father and son. The villagers will turn TO
look sfter. Anton Lang, whom they have known
all their lives, even though they rarely pay
that tribute Of curiosity to the tourists.
The stIangest thing to many people who see
the Passion Play Is not that the parts should
At all. Where In America would you find a
community where the middle-aged and elderly
butchers, bakers and candlestiok makers would
let their hair grow long and dress up or a. they
would doubtless say. RIG up. in strange, outland.
ish costumep 1t is a delight TO watch these men
here. II may be that they have quite a promi-
nent part in the Council Of the Sanhedrim or
they may have nothing to do except rig up and
figure In the populaoe. But with what serious
ness they do IL, whichever II Is! And they are
Oh proud to have you single them out on the
street and tell them that you noticed them In
the play as well as an American or English
middle-aged man would be embarrassed there
by. But hat Is the difference between the rest
Of the world and 0berammergau.