The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-08-15
SPIRIT OF The PASSION PLAY
REI ERENCE tND SIMPLICITY,
IIOLt iILIsN SAYS.
The Actress says M other Players Gould
Give .: ~ Well A. These of 0beram-
me; eau wan Professional Players
,ae Present n I Ion ouih Lose Charm.

I Miss Viola Allen returned To New Iorl
, Yesterday on m" Cedric after thre'
months in III" SCrues reproduced for stag
J PURPOSES IN III" White Sister In
B Rom. she made frequent visits Ia the con
| vent hospital. near tho Porta PorteSe
which served a. = Marion Crawford''
model for the first act scene Of his lasl
! play. and for "A large part of her stay
abroad she was III" guest Of the author,
widow at villa Crawford. SAINT Agnello al
| sorrento
Miss Allen regards her view - the Pas
SION Play a. tho most notable f"atrIr,
81 her European tnp. The people oi
Obcrammergau have accomplished tho
marvellous. she SAID 1T IL little bit
- village uf only so inhabitants
every one 81 them Interested in his famous
play The greatest and most sacred ui
tho worlds tragedies is given with atmo--
phere. dignity and reverence II was -
we'll don" that INV attention was held
every moment Of a." eight noun, Tho
bl.ualng col th" music by "a chorus with a
~"ri"- of tah"auN from IN" odd Testament.
,hpR .ng uR they applied - and w"r,'
iulfillcd by th" N"w Testament. was skill
fUl and bcautliui IN the "Ntrrn"
Ihp-" mpUutdIu'.''S do not attempt
more than they ,in do well and every
OH. down Co 10" 'lry children. j. eNo-ilent
and earnest Ih'y nav" 81 Nsars of trail-
ton behind them. and % has b.COne the
IT., and ann 81 ~" yIllag" IL - the ambl-
fIon - every man. woman and child II
DbsrI'nwsrglu Ia take soin" part IN tho
Passion Play and they arr constantly
doing other plays. mostly ~ sIWpl" Odd
Testament stoTIe- 10 keep th"m-s.lys
IN framing for IN" great event which
comes every ten years Of their lives
To my mind. the most remarkable
thing IN the whole presentation - tho
simplicity and reverence" IA" performers
have preserved IL i IN" spirit m which
the play j. rendered that gives Il IT, great
beauty and attract v-ueS-
In all honesty 70 should IN. said thar
~ spite - IA" iinmen-. financial advan-
tage- coming from thes" performances
Il the Passion Play IA" people ~ Dler-
amtner gan themselves do not App.ar ia
the least degree commercial Their.
zasrms "a ~ absolutely no competition
Prices for the same thing are Identical IN
all th. shops tn" p.-opl" all work to-
gether for the good - the village and
not for the advantage ~ the individual
A most absurd thing would IT, To try
to CoWpar" the stage work ~ thas'
earnest. SIMPLE villagers with professional
acting Thu~" Who take part at Ober-
a'nmeTgau have entirely different ideas
and motives from IN" beginn ing Posi-
lively Would NOT care to see the Passion
Play presented ~ any other than the
people ~ Otprammer Rau ! prefer To-
have 10 remain the unique. forCcful inSti-
tut ION thai u " II taken away from this
mountain village and gwen into other
hands ! know the presentation 81 the
immortal story would lose it's uplifting
charm
i had he honor Of eng a guest NJ
tn HON" Of Anton Lang. and had u
most interesting visit with him and his /
family
Miss Allen will 70 80 her summer home
m Bnrnard-yille. y J for short time
and will spend the remainder ~ the .
interval in tn. White Mountains before :
ia" reopening II The White Sister. ,
y hich j. to prrccd" the production II the .
/angwIll play