Norwich bulletin., 1911-02-09
FINE LECTURE ON THE ASSION PLAY
Given For Benefit of Academy at Slater Hall by George s. Palmer Beautiful Vocal Selections By Mrs Palmer
Palmer. [. r T ' n r

s Slater hall was filled Wednesday evening for the illustrated lecture by George s. Palmer of New London, for merly of this city, on the Passion Play at Oberammergau, which he witnessed the past year. It was magnificent de- scription of the great play and won en- thusiast1c expression from the large audience. although by request there was no applause throughout the even- ing,
 Quaint kittle Village.
 In his lecture. which was Illustrated by magnificent pictures thrown on the screen by Allen Latham. he said:
 The quaint little village of Ober- ammergau, with its fifteen hundred people, lies on a broad plain at the foot of the Bavarian Tyrolese mountains. Its whitewashed stone houses, with green shutters and red tiled roofs, are stretched at every angle along and with their tiny gardens, vine- clad walls and sometimes frescoed fronts, make a very picturesque appearance. These villagers are miscalled peas ants. Many are indeed farmers and especially dafrymen, and the tinkling going forth and back to the pastures on the hiIsides pleasantly mark the morning and the evening hours. Many work at the ordinary trades, but the chief industry of the village is the carving in wood or ivory of crucifixes, statuettes of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or the Biblical charac- ters which so plentifully bedeck the churches of Europe. Anton Lang the Christus of the play, is an excellent worker in clay and produces pottery of beautiful form and rich coloring.. These people are devout and pious by nature, but I believe their religious character has been developed by the influence of the play. The ideal of every boy and every girl, yes, of every man and woman, too, in Oberammergau is to sometime be considered worthy to Play, and, knowing that, good conduct. right living and high character are well-nigh universal here. There is no constable, no lawyer, no lookup, in Oberammergau. Every person (except married wofnen) in the village must quired, and altogether about eight or nine hundred are made use of in the presentation, all native born Oberam- mergauers, for no outsider is allowed in any capacity. The chief characters, such as Christ, Mary. Mary Magdalene, about sixty in all, are chosen by a specially appointed committee with the greatest care after prolonged delibera- -tion, and in each case high personal qualities count fully as much as ap- pearance or histrionic ability. The Christus must have Christ as his ideal in his daily living. Mary must have tender, womanly qualities. Judas even. must have devout Christians horror of his simulated infamy to adequately portray the part.
 Broad Open Stage.
 The play Is given upon a broad open stage fronting a partly enclosed auditorium seating over four thou sand people. At the right of the stage is the house of the High Priest, with an arched portico across its front, al the left a. similar building is the house of Pilate. In the center is a temple like structure upon each side of which streets lead away, the open spaces are filled with shrubs and palm trees, and in the background tower the trees oi the village. The temple front has a movable curtain behind which the tableaux9 are arranged while. the dra- matic action goes on in the foreground and it is a remarkable eviAenGa of the instfnctfve perception of dramatic effect which these villagers possess that the four or five hundred persons, including one hundred and fifty children, whe appear in some of these tableaux, glide into their proper places and assume the most artistica1ly effective postures without any confusion or noise what soever.
 Given Every Ton Years.
 The Passion Play has been per- formed at Oberammergau every ter years for two and a. half centuries and as now given is a skilful adapta- tion to modern taste. of the old nlys- tery or religious plays which were