/ • OCEAN CITY SENTINEL, OCEAN CITY, N. J.. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 21, 1922 SEVEN ■

Passion Play ofOberammagau Mrs. Dowdney Clark Writes Witnessing The Performace i iM : OF THE MOST CHARMING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HISTORIC PLAY IT HAS BEEN OUR PLEASURE TO READ WRITTEN ON WAY HOMEWARD BOUND WRITTEN SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS AGO. PLAY HAS BEEN ONCE EVERY DECADE SINCE YEAR 1633. OVER NINE HUNDRED IN THE CAST

It har Ixf « our pleasure to read m.iny instructive descriptions of ti-.c historic Passion Play of Ober- , mmaftau; but none hove given ua ... much pleasure as the one written by Mrs. T. Dowdney Clark. Some have written in a philosotrrislty of the Play was lost in a medley of speculative theories. Others have written of the Passion I j dramatically, as they would. I, iv.. written of any legitimate j tn: • production, and the piety, the nrere religious devotion motivat- j . • the simple peasants in the pro,1,1 lion has been sucrificeil to elab- . ,.ite and florid description of the j stage ami its setting, and craft. The charm of Mrs. Dowdney'. Clarke': narrative lies in its simplicity, the unalfected language and ' ,;>le of diction. Mrs. Clark trusted!: more to her intuitions rather than I t., rea,son, in an effort to study the! Play from the viewpoint of the i actors, and has succeeded, admir- . aldy where others have fuijpd— j The production of the Passion I Play, to the peasants of Otieram- i magab is not an art, it is not a I pastime; rather it is a sacred ob- i ligation ami an act of sincere wot- I 3 ship.- i They study and train themselves i not for the purpose" of winning! I encomiums from the uudience; hut the approval of their God. ; I Mis. T. Dowdney Clarke's letter I will l«? read with muny and varied "t " emotions. * -l It will lie read for the valuable c information it contains, its literary f merits, 'and for its spiritual mes- a ige. " f On Board S. S. Presiilent Monroe, c Sept. 3rd, 1922. o Editor of the Sentinel: I I think my last letter to s tour valuable paper, wos written v upon our arrival in Brussels. We v were coming then from Otieram- s magau, where we had witnessed il the stupendous production of the f Passion Play. I fully expected to ,s write of this play, and of this k quaint little Alpine village, set o amidst the Bavarian Alps upon my «

■I arrival in London; but my time if has locn so fully occupied as I -- have, unlike the rest of my party, s been also in Scotland. So here I I .- am on the ship, this beautiful Sab' ' bath morning, homeward bound, < - just lie ginning the letter which - -should hnm raa shad yea by this-* a time. I want to take the time ju-t ' •• here to say, how glad I urn to bej> a on the last lap of our journey. ' il. towards America, and h >m». it '■ I thank God there is such a 1 1 e c< untry to come to, after all I ! - have seen end heanl over here; and I - it is dearer than ever before. When ' ' • I at last I .-*•• the Statue of Uberty i e "Himing «•» Lcfo-a me. I think I « shall just shout out "three cheers J >' j and hooray for the 'land of 'the ' - free and the home of the brave.'" I! Jailor on I will write you of t I Belgium, England and Scotland;.! i now back to my subject. 1 1 f It was late afternoon when we j « ' reached Oberammagau by the > - Amlscr. The sun was just setting, jo _rcusting long rays of golden rose j t ' "fft ,lown over "l* "*"***• l°uch- » • jhe tall spires of the church, | * i tl» Ifvuoden cross on the opposite f - mountain Aide, ' and falling like aja • over the h.'gc auditor- f in which on the morrow we ! f < to witness the sacred trageily, 1 1 : the passion of our blessed lord. n Our party was divided into little ,t and entertained in Ike <iif- ' ii • ferent homes of the villagers, in [ t la very primitive but still com for- o table way. I liked the kind'y, sin- 1 1! 1 greeting we received, so <lif- g from the formal, expecting a good tip "smile" or smurk on the tl of the gorgeously clothed ii i concierges, who ushered us into a hotels on the Continent, and as walked up the plain uncarpete-l g stairs, and into my little room tl where I could touch the ceiling 1 1< with my uplifted hands, and as I a the bed and its simple little s' draperies at my dormer window, a ti of peace and contentment's .stole over me, that I had never ^ in the big handsome rooms . of the hotels anil I thought it good for all of us to sometimes .

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I come to the plain places in life. 1 In this village are many shops, ; ■"<! »ft«r »n excellent evening din- ; ner, we joined the maddening 5 throng, and visited most of them, and found everything saleable exceedingly cheap. Clothing was tiie 1 cheapest of all. Just think Mr. " Mun, of buyi.% a first class, finely made overcoat, of all woolen maE terial for only, seven dollars in our money. One gentleman has bought one, and showed" us,* and we readily reailxed that it would have cost him thirty-five or forty dollars in our country. I noticed ladies and children*' clothing just as cheap, and I wish *„ine of our gjwl Amei ; lean men and women who have to look at the almighty dollar mailt ' time* ,aml squeeze it good and r har«i I* fore tliey dare spend it, I were just on the spot, so they eon , replenish their wardrobes, and also , | the enjoyment of buying . under such alluring and easy cm:- , ditions. i What crowds of people were .tut! ; there were over six thousand per-| i j sons tliittgj, all coftjng to see the • Passion Tray on the morrow, und ] that was tlie way it had been foi weeks. j As 1 begin to write of the great [ production, I -scarcely know how (o ' for T feel deeply my utter to do it justice; but I will ' earnestly strive my best to give who huve not been there a ! idea of what it is. In the first plaee this play was ' I I written hundreds of years ago. by a Benedi. tine monk and a very I man, and has been given ' occasionally for seven hundred ' . saving for the interruption ;of the Thirty Year War in the six-ij , leenth century, the Franco Prussian xftr in 1870, and the late 1 [world war. In 1633 a terrible \ plague visited the people of Ober- ' ! ammegmu, and after dreadful suf- •' i and many deaths, the people 1 upon their knees and prayed : God for deliverance, and pledged not only their supreme allegiance 1 , to Him, but also made a propit- ' vow, that every ten yeai s ' ! they would give this sacred plav ; j of the Christ as a manifestation of ' their appreciation of His grea'. 1 goodness and mercy. God heard 1 and answered their prayers, and ' were no more deaths; but \ instead, the sufferers grew well ' and strong. It is still with feeling of deep ' gratitude and a sincere bone that . *urtd may be brought nearer ' - tl.e Christ, the these descendants produce this play, adhering c strictly to the biblical text Owing ' to the heavy toll the late war took i 1

among them, the plav could not >s> be produced in 1920, so that this summer is really the first time in lir twelve years that it has been ■n. *'Te"x. Everyone taking part is a native l,e of Oberammegau, ami whiry/* you r consider this village, aqjd know ly that the chorus numbers fifty men n. end women, the orchestra- fifty )r more, and that the music which is of the Mozart style, and purely ly devotional, and superbly rendered, ,, also that there are over eight hun|n dred others, many acting and ,1 speaking in a magnificently dra- i !, matic manner, then you must sure- ' r. ly agree with me that God must ' „ b:ive let His great power descend • ' upon these simple pious people, 1 ,1 and gifted them with needed tal- , ents to carry out this work. ' i The soloists have studied voice * culture in Munich, some making . great sacrifices to pay for their ' k lessons. Mr. Isjdwig Wittmann, I . the conductor of the orchestra, and •' , M Guldo Diemer, the chorister, a ^ are musicians of marked ability ... , We saw the Passion Play on a Sun- 1 K 'day morning, .leaving the house F I with our wraps und cushions at c seven thirty, and meeting great » crowds of people, all going the F I same w.vy. We took our reserved i" ^ places in the huge auditorium, and! r before long every seat was taken, : u uerore long every seal taken, :•

I aad people sjverals rows deep, I , were standing on either siile of the ' outer aislps. This building open in ' front, seats oyer four thousand fl and is arranged like a theatre, so ' ' f that everyone can see, and down in : -c r front the memliers of the orchestra ! I i sit, while beyond and above in a 1 I huge uncoveied platform, where ' ( the chorus- sing and upon which L _ i the play is produced. In the near ( [background on either side are two ' . buildings and two streets of.Jeru- 1 , salem. while the middle part is covered and is for the main scenes, ' . and the twenty-four tableaux. Over e , the huge stage is the sky, and he- T I yond one can see the Bavarian I Alps. Birds fly back and forth * , , twittering and singing. One surely s . ! could not wish for a more artistic I ( setting than this, where nature 1 . I supplements the work of man . se r gloriously. The players are in the I , open most of the time, and the * I play is given no matter what the n I weather mnv he. There are altogether over nine hundred persons u I in the cast, even the village chil- * dren, from little tots of four and 8 five years, represent the children of t . Jerusalem, and many of them act a ! in the tableaux. <> At iiuarter of eight o'clock a , F . cannon booms, and prompt I y at , * , eight the play begins by a fanfare t ! j of trumpets. The orchestra plays j

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it a short prelude, while the chorus Is ' comes upon the stage robed apn ! propriately. A man clothed as n n prophet announces in blank verse, the scene which is to follow. The a chorus sing of this scene, followed u by a beautiful tableaux, taken v mostly from the Old Testament; „ i but having n direct hom ing upon y the subject. s Exactly at 12 o'clock it stops. y ' giving time for lunch and rest. It I, begins promptly at 2 o'clock, and . ends at six. Just here I want to] I say, that every part of the play! . is atisilute'y [erfect, and from' . start to finish there is not one ' t disturbing note, and I was tool hv J I a man who has seen it played r.ianyj , time that it is idwuys this way. i The attors i„e no cosmetics nfj kind, or any wigs iitul, over! i eight hundred costumes vete -le-i ; -"'gned cue talented m t in the village and mule by sevm.J j'.ijere, , the material of satin .'-ro- e.lesj mainly, comirg from Jerusalem I and Arabia, i ..This p!av tvas the -gremleti. Id;,... Igest thing f ever saw, or t-v»r cx-| 1 pect to see, and is given with such i earnestness and genuineness .that j ; prossion upon the most skeptical j | mind. I The plav begins witli Jo-- .is tri- : umphal march into Jerusalem, the -

j people waving palm branchei tnd , I singing hosannas, continuing i j through to the last seven days of I his life and embracing all the hi r- , , | rowing scenes of His trial, His i , ! scourging, agony in the garden, I the heav v cross with a I theif on either side. His nail uierced I and feet, his side with the I deep wounds, from the Roman sol- I diers' sword. His burial and last, like a golden ray of light through the gloom, His resurrection. in a wom'rously beautiful and impressive ta Venue of Jesus ascending, whiUi ai-gels surtound the chorus marches silently upon the stage, now clothed in white robes ami sing triumphant songs of praise and hallelujahs to the blessed Lamb, that was slain, ] who lives again. Oh "what a magnificent finale.' was overcome by my emotions and throughout that vast audience were in tears. It seemed as if a spell was upon and we passed out into the sun- I net in silence. Oh it seemed to rm I if I could not pick up the J threads of my ordinary life so soon again; but I know that I, like many others, have many new pictures painted in my heart many new desires for better living, and that I the blessed Christ stands out with I

us , startling, hut more loving imprcsp- j sivenos- and that 1 have exalted - my .- tan-lard of living because of -e.: What nr. jvc- saw, ami my ears lieineard, that never to lie forgotten fdjday. >n . Never in nrfn instance was there , t; | an action counter to the perform-', Inn adjustment of a drapery, ah- : ; *. J sohitely not the slightest thing to;, Itj-ietract from the -ieep sincerity of ' l all the actors and singers; and imme I- t vithcy repoate-l with tlieir mini - er. ii j l'ie l ord's- prayer, el Anton Lang, called a potter, hut v -,-ja sculptor really, who is pnssesse-l y | with a fine face, gentle dignity, i sweetness and great purity of ,f I character, has aeteil the part of f rjlhe Christus vince 1900; ami on ^ -j »he days of the play, sometimes • e liven four nays a week, he ;ves • - after a very si.i pie breakfast, p s early to the sacre-l theatre, where 1 1 he has a hare little dressing room. ;Ileie he remains alone all through 1 ^ 1

- the day, only when upon the stage. I No one addresses him save the atf tendant, who brings his simple i food and drink, ami- he also prays. These peopie on'y receive a pit-.; ' tnnce for their work, the main re-' ' j ceipts goes to rehuil<ling their' streets, and other absolutely needed j improvements .to charity ami nee- ; vps.sary expenses." The rehearsals: j til Maj!, when the play is given se -end tin es a week until Oetnl*r. , j One 'can "truly see that this is : no mercenary scheme, but the true 1 icing of their ilevoted heat , - to J Continued on Page Si-: , i ' ' ■ < t Experienced, all ' Shopper- tind, 0f t,i,y- : ing. Ocean City to Philadelphia. 476M Cdl I™ iwooka HENDERSON COTTAGE 1 101 Asbury Avenue

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