The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-24
ABOUT THE PASSION PLAY.
r0NDERS or THE OBERA MMERGAU
SHOW AND ITS FLAWS.
The New Iheatr. -sccncs That Bring Tears
-Perfecticn Of the Mechan,'s! Contrivances
-Rema, kAbie Extent to which the Actors
Enter Into the spirit Of Their Parts.

Euter hbNo u Sphss US s"NH
oBERAMMERoAU. June e.-After three days
Of comparative tumult, oberammereau Is
It's sleepy self again. on Sunday a dusty
multitude cams up the valleys and filed tho
village. On Monday the Passion Play was
given 10 an audience that filed every seat In
the immense new theatre. Yesterday Tuesday,
the play wa repeated to another crowded house.
But Yesterdays audience was composed almost
exclusively Of Germans from the towns. ham
lets and country within "A radius Of fifty miles
from here. A. soon as the play was over they
made a grand rush for home, some of them by
train. some by vehicles ~ queer, unclaSsified
y~nrletie-, but most of them on foot. So when the
curfew bell rang last evening and the children
came scurrying home 10 the shelter OF the
broad-eaved houses. there was scarcely a
soul abroad in the village.
To-day II Is so quiet that one has n chance
10 think II all over and sort ont ones impress
sion. For years II has been tho proper thing
u rave immediately over the Passion Play.
Last evening, NJ the little shop Of John The Evan
G,iist, III American was heard. telling how he
lad been ~lr"turing for xix years on the Passion
Play-though had not seen II until the day
before yeeter v--and how the papers had
often said thu the pictures Of Joseph Mayr a.
Christ were nearer their ideal Of Christ than
any painting they had ever seen" The papers
are now saying the same thing OF Anton Lang.
the new Christ.
The Passion PLAY Is such a wonderful thing
that II IL rather hard not TO Join this chorus OF
unconditional praise. II takes a good deal OF
courage to a'uit that one has had any dis
appointment in the Oberammergau play,
Women Of lively imagination and quick emo
tons, who have come from the play very red
and swollen as TO their eyes and very trembling
o. 70 their voices. look at you with something
hke horror II you confess TO some disappoint-
nent You feel like u rariah to admit that you
we're glad when the play was over. but In your
secret soul-or at any rate In your tired back.
you were gladder than you will confess.
The Passion Play is wonderful. but II is not
the s~uperhumanly perfect performance whioh
you more than half expect to zee. IL has Its
flaws and the greatest OF these il its inordinats
length. OF course, II one were TO suggest
cutting tho Passion Play there would be a
great hue and cry. The other day. out OF the
depths Of utter WEAKNESS we dared 10 say that
we wished Judas had hanged the chorus when
he hanged himself. which was early in the after
noon. The remark seemed to be regarded as
sacrilege, but it wasn't even nippant in reality.
The chorus form the worst enemy the play
can have, as n little calculation proves.
The performance occupies about seven and
one-half hours; from 8 TO 1870 in the morning
and from / To 5 In the afternoon, Fully half Of
this time the chorus hold the stage TO the eI-
clusion Of the scenes in which there Is action.
For a few minutes during each Of their eighteen
appearances a tableau is shown, but the rest OF
their occupation Of the stage is devoted to re-
hearsing in song the meaning Of these tableaux.
For half a day this was interesting, but II IA i'm
possible for anybody sincerely to maintain that
the play itself does not suffer In interest from
the unremitting appearances OF the chorus.
During the entire afternoon the audience does
not have ono single moment In which even to
stand up and the fatigue becomes almost un-
bcarable. It 10 foolish not to admit that one
Is inoapacitated for approaching the latter
part Of the play, II one Ia utterly tired OF sitting
still by the hour.
No one wants to spare the living picturss
explained by the chorus. They are truly re-
markable. The costuming Ia excellent. the
grouping and posing both lfelike and artistic,
and the ability OF the people, from the little
children up, TO keep even the most difficult po-
sitions is a constant marvel 70 the spectators.
There are several hundred ftures in some Of
these tableaux. while In the street scenes there
are even more.
Altogether there ara about ons thousand
men. women and children employed In the
production Of the Passion Play. OF this num-
Der. ITO have speaking parts; 400 grown people
and $50 children are employed simply In the
tableaux and street scenes. 81 are singers. SO
are In the orchestra. 90 have charge Of the
stage and the wardrobes, 10 ara cashiers,
ticket sellers and ushers, and about 50 men
form the ambulance, fire and village guard.
This fire guard IL Z proud body. will a deep
sense Of It's Importance since the new theatre
was built. The new auditorium IL q shell Of
Of wood over six huge iron arches. These
arches have a span of l+O feet and a height Of
% feet. The depth of the auditorium Is iSO feet
and II contains 1000 numbered seats. The
stage, most OF which Is uncovered. is also 40
feet wide and Is s3 feet deep. dimensions which
are none too great for the demands OF the play.
Of the stage having been arranged by the ma
chine director" Of the Court Theatre In Munich.
The seating arrangements are good so far as
the view Of the stage IA concerned. There does
no seem TO be a really poor seat in the house.
At least. not for pleasant weather. As the
front OF the auditorium is entirely open where
II Joins the stage, the rain would come in on the
people In the front seats and the sun also reaches
them late In the afternoon. The only back to
the seats Is Il narrow board at the level Of ones
'bi'h ~ ~ aibN 'il' so'l Nsil let
However, the arrangements for the comfort
Of he 81 eCtators have been SO improved this
yer TIM one doesn't feel critical Of the few dis
conIOTta which still remain.
The actual celebration Of the Passion Play
begins the day before the performance. The
day before yesterday being Whitmonday,
the play was given then instead Of on Sunday,
which IL chosen for most OF the representations.
Sunday, just before sunset, q cannon set the
echoes reverberating from mountain to noun
tain. and a few moments later the Turkish
music came down the street, making so much
noise that the cannon of in the meadow seemed
like the feeble popping Of a toy pistol. The
Turkish music" Is the Oberammergau name
for the brass band. though why it should be
90 called IL more than tho visitor can make out,
Unless, to be sure, IL is because it Is Of so muir
derous a quality. The Turkish music gives
one dire forebodlngs Of what the music during
the play will be. These forebodlngs are ground
less, for the orchestra plays unexpectedly well.
The band marches from one end of the village
To the other where the theatre stands. 1t Is
attended by hundreds Of peasants, nine-tenths
OF the men wearing absurd little green hats
IN the morning there IL a special mass In the
church, and the players rs well as many Of
the villagers attend, At intervals the inval-
uable cannon stirs up the echoes. until at 8
O'Clock II gives u final warning. BY that time
on Monday the auditorium was crowded with
people of different nationalities and very
evidently different conditions in life. The
seats range in price from 50 cents to 81 80. Hun
drcds Of Americans and English we're In the
most expensive seats. With them were a scat
trrlng Of French people and a good many Ger
peasants and German men who had walked In,
They had packs on their backs and carried
lunch baskets and handbags, Almost all Of
them had a bottle OF something resembling pop,
and they took occasional lunches from large
pink salsa9es-
thanks to the Americans, who are gradu-
ally eXerting a c~iytlizins influence on Europe
In this respect. almost all the people In the
.,nGt ANE.patun a.sNftnn tnnH M fAatr hat,