THE PLAY’S THE THING (XII of ‘A Tale of 2 Continents’ by R.J.Fensterman
XII
THE PLAY’S THE THING
In the early decades of the 17th Century, another outbreak of the nefarious bubonic plague occurred in Central Europe; this was not as virulent a strain nor as wide-spread as the plague known as the Black Death that killed a third of Europe’s entire population in the 14th Century. But it was a gruesome way to die, and sanitary conditions of the time made it virtually untreatable. This particular pandemic started in Italy in 1631, and was rapidly spreading north.
The inhabitants of a small village in southern Bavaria made a religious vow that if theirvillage was spared from the plague, they would perform a Passion Play about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The town was spared, and in 1634, they made good on their promise, and the first Passion Play of Oberammergau was performed. Almost all the villagers took some part in producing the play, and they repeated this event every 10 years. (It is somehow fitting that a town of wood-carvers would take part in play about a Carpenter.)
The name Oberammergau means “Upper Ammer County); Ammer is the name of the small river that flows through the center of the town. It is a rather beautiful place, home to some 4000 inhabitants; over half of them would take part in the play in the year 2010. And we would be in attendance on the afternoon and evening of May 16th
We awoke to an overcast day in Murnau; the rain had stopped – for a while anyway. After our buffet breakfast, we went for a short stroll through the town to aid our digestion. As you can see, Murnau is an old-fashioned and colorful German village…
Across the street from the hotel was a little gift shop (not yet opened in the morning), where wonderful wood-carvings were displayed in the showcase window. Here is a picture taken by Phoebe, showing her reflection in that window, as well as our tour bus; note the open door of the bus – beckoning her to board. In fact, she was the last one to get-on. But then, she would rather miss a bus than miss a picture…
The road to Oberammergau climbed steeply through thick-forested mountains; as we wound our way upward, we drove into the clouds to find ourselves in an eerie world of mist and rain…
As we came down into the valley of the Ammer River, the rain lifted, but there were still plenty of clouds in the sky. The bus left us at the large tourist parking area, and we walked into the beautiful town of Oberammergau…
It was almost 11 AM; with every minute, the number of people and cars and buses seemed to increase. (The fist half of the Passion Play was scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM.) So we took to the back streets to avoid the crowds…
We came out at the very center of the town, where the Dorfstrasse intersected with the Verlegergasse. On the corner, is this large restaurant/hotel built in Swiss Chalet style. And even though the air was quite chilly, it was all decked-out in bright flower boxes…
The Playhouse building is located not far behind this popular tourist spot. We turned here, and then tuned again onto the Magdalenstrasse We made our way over to the parish church of Oberammergau, Sts. Peter and Paul; we could see its onion-esque bell tower from most everywhere in the town. From the outside, it was a typical 17th Century Bavarian Catholic church…
The original Passion Play was held inside this church. But after a few cycles, it was decided that it was too small, so it was moved outside to the adjacent graveyard. Inside, the church was quite spectacular in its Rococo decoration. Here is the main altar…
And here is the choir loft at the back of the church…
When we stepped outside the church, it had begun to rain again. By now, it was close to noon; we had tickets for the 12:30 lunch setting at the Sonnenhof hotel. We hurried down the main street, and across the bridge over the Ammer River to the traditional alpine hotel…
We sat at a table with the couple from Fredericksburg. The food was quite good, as was the service, considering how crowded the restaurant was. The waitresses wore Dirndl’s, and the waiters wore embroidered Loden vests, as befitted Bavarian traditions. However, the waiters were all bearded, which was definitely odd for up-scale German restaurants. (we would see why in a short time.)
After lunch, we walked back into town, and located the Play House: a gigantic shelter-shed, with an open front, a high metal roof over the audience, and no climate control. Our tickets indicated which gate we would use, and the corresponding section; with row and seat numbers. It struck me that it was colder in the theatre than it was outside. Fortunately, we were all dressed for winter. Here is a picture of the stage area…
As you can see, we were quite close to the stage. The seating was sloped, so even with the fur hats, we could see fairly well. We found our seats were next to our favorite couple: George and Mary from Milwaukee…
We each had been given, along with our tickets, a “Passionsspiele Textbuch” – explanatory notes and libretto in German and English; unfortunately the two were not side-by-side (rather back and front) so it was not very easy to follow. (The dialogue and singing were all in German, of course). Besides, with the poor lighting in the audience, and the fact that if you tried to follow the text, you would miss all the action on the stage — we were all content to just watch and listen. After all, the basic storyline is well-known to most civilized people
It was more like an Opera than a traditional Drama. Not a Wagnerian Opera to be sure – perhaps like Mozart or Weber. The original score and libretto from the 18th Century are still being used, giving it the feel of a Late Medieval Mystery Play. Of course, many revisions have been applied over the many decades of production. One of the most interesting devices was the Chorus – originally found in Classical Greek Drama, but often found in Western European Morality Plays as well. This chorus was dressed in simple white “jump suits”, with rather “Outer Space” head-coverings, giving them an “other-worldly” appearance.
The costumes were not precisely from the 33 A.D. Roman Palestine period. Neither were they quite Modern Dress. The Pharisees and Sanhedrin officials were especially note-worthy, with their colorful robes and enormous hats. Pilate was dressed in a rather grim outfit that seemed to be a cross between a Roman Centurion and a Hell’s Angel; his acting was outstanding
The music was superb, as one would expect in Germany; certainly, the Germans have contributed as much to classical music as any nation on earth. But almost all of these singers and actors were NOT professionals. Rather they were townsmen and townswomen. And we recognized our waitresses and waiters (thus the beards) from the Sonnenhof on stage in the cast. The major roles, too, were all inhabitants of the village of Oberammergau. This year’s production was directed by professionals, including Christian Stückl, Director at Munich’s famous Volkstheater. The rest of the production team were all professional artists from Oberammergau — deputy director and dramatic adviser Otto Huber, set and costume designer Stefan Hageneier, and music director Marxus Zwink, and conductor Michael Bocklet, all of whom were involved in the 2000 production.
The first part of the Play takes 2 and half hours, and involves 5 Acts: Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem; Jesus in Bethany with Lazarus and his family; Jesus overthrows the money-changers from the Temple, while Pilate and Caiaphas plot to arrest Jesus; The Last Supper; Jesus arrested on the Mount of Olives. Also introduced in the first part are the Tableaux Vivants (Living Images) portraying relevant Old Testament incidents in “still life” between scenes of the Passion’s narrative.
At 5, the first part ended; there was a 3-hour break for “sustenance and meditation”. We returned to the Sonnenhof Hotel for dinner, We congratulated our bearded waiter for his singing. Then we rested in the lobby, watching the rain threaten to return. It did not. But by the time we returned, on foot, to the theatre, the temperature was dropping fast, When the second part started at 8 PM, it was close to freezing. Fortunately, they handed-out army blankets with the seat cushions this time. Bundled-up like kids at a camp, we watched the Trials of Jesus, The Via Doloroso, The Crucifixion, The women at the Empty Tomb. There were more “Living Images” from the Old Testament. And the introduction of a mysterious figure in white, who functions as an unseen angelic witness, and, on other occasions, as narrator.
By the time the Play was over, after the standing ovations and the conversations in audience, it was almost 11 PM. Outside, it felt like it was going to snow. We were bone tired; fortunately, there were local buses waiting by the Swiss Chalet, to take us to the tour bus parking lot, over by the river. We boarded our own familiar black Prevost bus; nodding off despite the slick winding road through the forested woods, we reached the Angerbrau Hotel in Murnau after midnight. And we had no trouble getting to sleep.
(Chapter XIII will follow shortly…)
