The Washington times., 1920-12-27
WILL. VOTEON
PASSION PLAY
0berammergau Has PIebiscite
To Decide on Another Per-
Torrance in 1922.

|
gau on the eve of a plebiscite; not
plebiscite TO determine boundaries or
political alignments, but plebiscite
of the elders TO determine whether,
in their opinion, the Christian spirit
is widespread enough in the world
to make it possible for them to enact
the Passion Play in 1922 and attract
visitors from former enemy coun-
tries to see it.
FULFILLMENT OF vow.
The Obermmergau peasants por-
tray the sufferings and death OF
Jesus Christ in fulhllment OF a vow
made by the villagers in 1884 to
DIT esent the sufferings of the Saviour
every ten years as an expression
of the villagers gratitude for hav-
ing been spared from a plague.
The last presentation of the Pas
sion Play was in 1910. the peasants
being unable to present IL in 1920
| because OF the unsettled conditions
of the world and the havoc which
the war wrought among the per-
formers and musicians. Owing to
the financial distress Of the village
also the wood carvers cannot AFFORD
to stage the spectacle unless lib
orally supported by visitors.
SOME PREFER 1874.
Munich will hold an industrial ex-
position in 1872. which is expected
to attract many visitors. and con-
scquently Oberammergau could rea-
sonably expect a good attendance IN
that year IL the Munich fair proves
successful. However, the peasants
of Oberammergau are considerably
divided as to the advisability of at
tempting the presentation so soon.
Many prefer to wait until 1924.
which would place the play in It's
natural ten-year sequence, exclusive
OF the four years of the war.
Anton Lang. who enacts the role OF
Jesus Christ, and other leading char
acters in the play naturally favor an
carly production because of their age
| and a determination that the drama
survive the war. Lang was in the
sanitary corps during the war, being
too old to serve in tho trenches. The
| band and other leading actors also
participated in some war activity.
! Seventeen musicians and many lesser
actors VINO pldyeO III INV ~eTc
COSTUMES ARE INTACT.
The costumes for the play are in
! tact, but great expense would attach
to repairing the assembly hall, seat
ing 5000, which has been sadly neg
| lected.
The Passion Play is essentially a
matter of the heart and soul with the
| Oberammergau peasants. All of them
! are anxious to resume 1t at the earl
! lest moment possible. when they are
sure 1t can be done without bank
| rupting the village, and they have
| finally decided to submit the Ques-
| ton to a secret vote OF the council OF
elders. They have agreed to abide UNI
| complainingly by the decision of
| ballot to be taken within the next few
| weeks.
Lang and other leading figures in
the sacred drama maintain the pa
| triarchal appearance Of their stage
roles and may be seen daily going
| to and from their work
INDUSTRY DIsORGANIZED.
The wood carving and pottery in
dustries were much disorganizcd by
the war but are gradually improv-
| ing. A trip through the clean, we'll
paved village streets. with its pic
turesque houses, many of which are
cmbellished with frescoes dating
back to the Roccoco period, does
not give the impression that the
war dealt hard blow to the
peasant community. The neat ap-
pearance of the village Is largely
due to the fact that percentage
of the earnings of the Passion Play
were devoted to municipal upkeep.
These funds are now exhausted,
however. and the taxes are heavy.
The villages are in despair lest they
cannot keep up the community's
traditions, as so many of it's pro-
ductive men have been lost.
EARNINGS NEVER LARGE.
The earnings of the Passion Play
never were large in comparison with
those Of the ordinary theatrical per-
formances. "Christus" Lang never
received more than thousand
marks for enacting the trying role
of the Saviour fifty times in any
| season. Yet the earnings were
the villagers.
within the last twelve months the
Oberammergau actors have been con-
stantly rehearsing. producing small
Biblical plays in preparation for the
greater work. One Of the most i'm
portant plays of recent date was
Samson" in which the title role was
played by brother Of 'Christus"
MAR, who was one Of the most IA
nous interpreters of the role of Jesus
in the Passion Play.
The plays management Is con-
stantlly swampcd with inquiries from
all parts Of the world asking when
the next presentation will be given.
There are also many offers of finan-
cial assistance, but tho villagers arc
unwilling to have their consecrated
performance explaitcd inn sacri-
legious manner and arc loath to ac-
cept assistance which might In any
way limit their control OF tho play.
| They are suspicious about outside
guarantees. and hesitate to risk tho
villages small resources until ma
tlonal and international affairs arc
in such state that travellers may visit
Bavaria without passport snnoyances
and may fnd n normal food situation.
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