The daily Alaskan., 1922-08-08
THE oBERAMAGAU PLAY

the Rasmusons, while at the Obera-
 magau play. MT. Rasmuson writes
 as follows:
 "On the evening of June 24, we arrived from Austria in the Bavar- ian village of Oberamagnu. There
 we saw the Passion play, on the 25. Hal Johnston, arranged for our tick cts through the c. P. R., before we | left Skagway. Taken as whole, the natural surroundings, the setting as whole, the simplicity of the peo- pie, etc., the play is grand. sos peo- pie take part, 43 are in the choir. The music consists of stringed in strument together with a pipe organ.
 The theatre seats 46OO. It takes from s to l2 a. m. and from 2 to 6 D. m., to perform. It is planned to perform every four days from late May to early September, but it ire uuentIy happens as 1t did when we were there. that there come as many people without tickets as those who have tickets and to acCOmodate these
 play is put on the following day.
 Thus we saw it on Sunday, and on Monday. the house was filled again. The play opens with scene from Adam and Eve in the garden and ends with Resurrection.
 Tae German language is used, but translation in English is sold so we , could follow. Since l633, this play has been given practically every ten years until it is world known and people from all parts of the world come to see it.
 The most touching part Is when Christ bids farewell to his friends III Bethany. Old and young, men and women, were then using their hankerchiefs. Though the play took nearly eight hours not a man left i his seat until the final act was past,
 The audience sits in 8 roofed over house, but the actors play in the op- en. Rain or shine makes no differ enCe.
 The Sanhedrin, consisting of the learned of Israel, Is in command. From their own are taken complain
 ant witnesses and judges. It was all
 agreed on beforehand Every actor
 plays his part with simplicity but to perfection.
 The men who take the parts of
 Christ and Judas, though of Oppo- site nature. are marvellous in their
 parts. How humble kind and patient
 the one. and how false shfewd and
 greedy the other. Christ Is on the
 cross 23 minutes, he is supported by
 corset of skin color. All play their
 parts well and to all are given in stlnted praise by the audience, who
 the next day must leave to give room
 for others"
 Speaking of the otl CT experiences
 while in Germany, he says, they ar rived at Berlin about the time of the
 murder of Rathenau, the foreign
 minister. It was the general opin
 ion that one of Germany's best men had been killed. There was no pow
 erty evidenced in Berlin, work,
 thrift, and cleanliness everywhere,
 business booming, and hotels crowd
 ed with hundreds in the waiting list. No chance to get to a hotel on the
 avenue. But what they did get was good and declared he got what he paid for, which was more than he
 could say about some places they visited.
 Berlin struck the Skagwayites as very lean and a city of great shade
 trees. Their statues along the aven- lue. commemorate the heroes of the
 Franco-German war of 1870. A visit | to POtsdam, enabled them to Vlsit the
 royal palaces. $50 marks gave an
 auto ride of 32 miles, admission to
 the different palaces an dcastles, an interpreter and a guide. It was at | Potsdam, the visitors saw the room
 whose walls and ceiling were cover ed with all the known precious
 stones. The effect of the light On
 these are given as indescribable.. Fri or to 1914, none but royal people
 were admitted to the grounds. Tray
 el is so heavy on account of the pre- vailing opinion of cheap goods that
 rooms have jumped from 100 marks
 per day to 1000. Regular tariff on the railroads is cheap but it is hard l to get sleeping accommodations, but
 they can be had foI money. In Swe-
 den whither the friends travelled and from which the letter was written, they found prices very high. It ap- l Doarg hard PDr thpm t0 drOD from the