The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-03-12

Edci performer mas tnree Identical
costumes. The reason is obvious, for
the performance takes place in the
open air, with no shelter overhead for
the performers, the audience alone be-
ing under cover. A thunderstorm "
heavy rainfall-and we have enough of
them i'll Bavaria In the summer
drenches the actors and actresses to
their skins, hut they play through it
all. Only once, il 1900, was the per-
formance stopped owing to terrific
hailstorm, which rendered hearing
what the players were saying impossi-
BILE, but after lapse Of ten minutes,
| although the hailstones lay inches
deep upon the stage, they went on
| with the performance.
"The plays begin in May and finish
at tie end of September. The per-
formanco begin at a m. and lasts
till p. m, with a pause from 12 till
2, and the play takes place no matter
what the weather may be.
Wonderful Realism of the Performers
"Many people who have only seen
plays acted in theaters cannot imagine
how wonderfully and impressively
realistic these Passion plays are, with
the huge mountains for a background
the various changes in the weather
that can take place between and g.
sunshine and rain, clear and clouded
sky, wind and hail. Gas, electric ligh:
and limelight are things unk.ow 4
here and there are no stage fakes en-
ployed. The sparrows are real, tic
swallows that circle around Christ $
head as he hangs upon the cross are
real. On one occasion, in 1900, al
about o'clock, just as the cross OH
which Christ is already placed was
raised into a perpendicular position, d
tremendous thunderstorm broke out
the dark background of the mountains
causing the cross to stand out still
more clearly, the purple colored clouds
and the vivid flashes Of forked ligh!.
ming making such an impression on
tbs audteries that several women faint
ed There are 4,soo So tss IN the audi.
torium, but absolute silence reigna
broken only BY an occasional soo
,, Many people go there to scott at the
whole thing, but they are generally
the ones that are most moved.
Tho Actors in tho .sacted Drama.
"Anton Lang is a potter by trade
and also makes ovens. Lang is the
great name in the village, there being
no fewer than 3S, all more or less
related to each other. Ludwig Lang
is director of the school of wood carv-
ing and he is also manager and di-
rector of the Passion Plays. He it is
who superintends all the rehearsals
Andreas Lang, who plays the part OF
Peter is perhaps the best wood carver
in the whole region, and some of his
work, carved out of pear wood, is as
fine and delicate as any that is done
in ivory. ...
"Josef Twink, the Judas, is a house
painter and decorator, and his daugh.
ter takes the part of Mary for the first
time next wear: Alfred Bierling (Jo-
hannes) is locksmith; William Rutz
the rabbi, is a baker; Sebastian Bauer
! (Pontius Pilate) is mayor of Ober-
ammergau, and Jacob Rutz, leader Of
the chorus, is blacksmith. For nine
years they work at their respective
trades, but in the Passion Play yea1
everything is put on one side, and the
way they enter into the spirit Of the
parts they are playing and live the
roles they are acting is really wonder.
full The price Of the seats, which are
! all numbered, varies from ten to twelve
marks.
Reproducing tho Crucifxion.
II asked Anton Lang if the cruelty
ing part was at all painful. Not ex-
! actly painful he replied, but I an
very, very numb for long afterward.
He is % minutes hanging on the cross
Under his f1eshings he wears a kind
of harness (Which is of course unseen)
in which there are two hooks on his
shoulder blades that hook into two
rings on the cross; his feet rest on
a narrow ledge OF wood and his wrists
are quite imperceptibly tied to the
arms Of the cross. The nail in each
hand is bent between the fingers ir
such manner that the head of the
nail comes right in the center of the
palm and makes it look most realistic
In this position he is slowly raised
from the ground until the cross stand.
upright
Many tourists Qike the writer whom
<.,,oto5A will ~,;+rauo +l;. ,oo,,