Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-20
ORIGINALS IN DRAMA
SCORN COMMERCIAL GAIN
Mrs. W. S. Bartlett Explains In
acCuracies in Views in
EbeII Club Talk

yesterday AFTERNOON at tDell Clup, Iof
the authorities there do not permit
any photographs to be taken. Those
which have been shown here this
afternoon are posed by French actors,
and do not represent the play, either
in spirit or costume"
Mrs. Bartlett gave to her listeners a
vivid description of the route over
which she passed in visiting this play,
the men and women who participate in
it and the motive which governs the
productions.
THE charge of commercialism is not
founded on any good ground, said the
speaker, land studious visitor who
| goes there must become convinced that
the production is an integral part of
the faith of these folk. Each one of
the principal players has received Of
fers which would be tempting to less
spiritual minded persons Anton Lang,
the Christus of the piece. having been
offered a tremendous salary with trav-
cling expenses for himself and his fam
lily if he would go to New York and
play the part of Manson in The
Servant i'll the House. He Immediate
ly refused this, saying that it was only
on account of the success of his pre-
sentation of the Christus role that the
offer was made, and he could not think
of accepting money which would come
in any way from his playing of that
part.
THE receipts from the production
are very large and each season one
third of this money is devoted to char
ity and one-third to the Improvement
of the village, thus making it possible
for visitors to have more comforts
and to receive better attention. The
rest of the money is expended for the
small salaries and for the new cos
tunes. There are 500 Of these to be
made each time the play is given and
these are all designed by Ludwig
Lang, and are cut out and made under
the direction of his sister, Josepha
Lang, now a woman of II years of
age. She has made these costumes each
time for the past thirty years. and un>
der her supervision the young girls
of the village sew the seams and apply
the trimmings which are demanded by
| the designs.
''Titian would have exclaimed with
admiration could he have seen these
groupings, for the soft colors used in
the costumes are all harmonized exact
| " and the materials used are brought
from many parts of the world, al
| though all the actual manufacture of
/ the habliments Is done in the village
| Mrs. Bartlett explained the fallacy
/ of the moving picture representation
/ of this play and s, i that in the actual
presentation the more brutal features
were subordinated, especially in the
! crucihXion, where the divinity was al
ways depicted more than the man.
THE incident of st. Veronica is not
shown at all according to the more IA
miliar ideas, and while she does ap-
pear and does use her napkin accord
ing to scriptural history, the cloth
shows no mark afterward."
! This is a direct refutaton of that
| idea shown to local spectators in NOV
! ing picture films and in stage produc-
tions, too, which are supposed to fol-
low the actual presentation as to
dramatic facts
None of the miracles are shown on
the stage" said Mrs. Bartlett, land in
the scene with the money changers in
the temple no evidence of force is used,
the dignity and commanding mien of
the Christ appearing sufficient TO cause
| the withdrawal of these men,
Mrs. Bartlett described the stage
with its background of mountains and
/ trees in the distance and the small
! temple directly behind it.
The players use no makeup and
wear no wigs. They cultivate the
Isprit of their part assiduously through
out the presentation OF the play and
| for the five months preceding it, and
while this play is in progress all
gayeties are prohibited in the village" ="
Even weddings" added the speaker,
must be postponed until after the sea-
son of the play is over or else cele-
! brated with extreme simplicity and
! quietness, and every morning before
| the play begins, at s o'clock, the en-
| tire village goes to high mass
"Tickets for the theater are given
/ to each householder" continued Mrs.
Bartlett, "and if the rooms for the
/ house are not occupied then the tickets
may be sold the morning of the play,
| but not otherwise. The price of the
rooms varies according to location and
accommodation from 81 to So for the
/ two days it is necessary to stay in the
! village, but these are regulated by a
committee. and no overcharging is pos
| sibe
/ AT first the players received no pay
at all for these performances ex-
! planned the traveller as she concluded
! hel remarks, "and sixty years ago,
when the first salary was paid, each
/ principal received $34. This last year
! the principals received 1915, and less
/ important characters received lower
sums, ranging down to So for the
! smallest children
/ Mrs. Bartletts description received
/ profound attention. At the conclusion
Of her address pictures were shown
which elected a verbal criticism from
Mrs. Ira O. Smith, who declared that
| the man who made the pictures could
never have seen the actual play, since
neither costumes nor action were true
to the original Il criticism in which
Mrs. Bartlett concurred.