The New York herald., 1921-06-15
Passion Play Again in 1922.

Passion Play Again in 1922.
The Passion Play of Oberammer-
gau, according to an announcement
from that little Bavarian highland
village, will be produced in 1922 This
will be the first presentation since
1910, as the production set for 1920
was deemed inadvisable on account
of conditions following the world
war. The first performance Of the
Passion Play was in 1884, in fulfil
ment of vow made for staying a
! plague which devastated the village,
but it was not until 1850 that the
rule of decennial productions was in
troduced. Since then the play was
presented every ten years, with one
or two exceptions. until 1870, when
the fact that the ChriStas was with
the Bavarian army in France forced
postponement to the next year.
1t is the general belief that ANTON
LANG will have the leading part,
that of ChriStus, as in 1910. In 1915 it
was reported that LANG lost his life
while serving with a skill battalion
in the Vosges. LANG himself subse-
quently denied that he had been
drawn into military service in let
ters to relatives living in this coan-
try. He was, however, sufferer in
the war to the extent that he was
special charge of the European Re-
lief Council, of which Mr.. HOOVER
was chairman. There were, it is
said. eighty-two men of Oberammer-
gau who lost their lives in the war,
but none of these had important
parts in the play.
The selections for the cast are
made only after long and secret de-
liberation by the committee having
the arrangements in charge. There
is often considerable dramatic talent
TO draw from; most of the villagers
are wood carvers, musicians or paint
only three centuries of the Passion
Play, but also careful training in
frequent productions at the local the
ire. Oberammergau has furnished
many capable actors to the German
stage; Mrs. ANTON LANG went to
Berlin as a young woman and was
winning high honors as an actress
when homesickness drew her back to
her native village.
Every boy of Oberammergau hopes
that some time he will be called upon
to play the role of ChristuS. 1t is
day of sore disappointments and
heartburnings when the appoint
ments to the roles are made known.
Sometimes the selections cause con-
siderable surprise to the individual
chosen: LANG at first declared his
utter unfitness for the part, and
MAYRs, one Of his most distinguished
predecessors, asserted his unworthi-
ness in that he was a person OF un-
governable temper. A man can have
no better proof that age is creeping
upon him than the assignment of
the part he is to take with the lapse
of each ten years. FLUNeER was
ChriStus in 1850, in 1860 he was
Tobias, in 1871. Plate, and in 1880,
the Apostle Matthew.
The charge has been frequently
made that the Passion Play has lost
much of its original significance. The
text, in fact, has undergone many
changes from the original script in
the monastery at Augsburg; Christus
Is not nailed to the cross before the
audience but only the sound Of the
hammer Is heard; Judas does not
climb a tree before hanging himself
in remorse, and the Deril, who once
had considerable to say and do, now
never gets beyond the wings. The
theaticism of Munich. magnificent
settings and costumes and the ut.
most skill of stagecraft are<all now
more apparent than In the past. But
the effects are more satisfying to
the modern audience and the lead.
ing actors are put to the same Sc.
we're test as in the past by a per.
formance which begins at 8 o'clock
and continues with only an hour and
a half noon intermission until about
6 o'clock. That the actors of Ober-
ammergau play their parts with rev.
erence and seriousness is beyond
question. In 1910 the production re-
ceived It's first official sanction from
Rome when the Pspal Nuncio cele.