Night theater - 8pm-11pm
Day Theater - 2:30pm - 5:00pm
Passion Play 2010
Last Supper seen
Folks awaiting entrance into theaterTuesday, September 21st
Alright, I tried to shake it up a little yesterday with a 'Jeopardy-type' approach to the blog. I'm currently in Oberammergau, Germany. Yesterday I attended the Passion Play that makes this place special.
My sister turned me on to this play many months ago - I believe when I was back in St. Louis during April. She had read about it in a travel magazine. My book also has this play included amongst its selections. Thanks for the recommendation.
Coming directly from the booklet provided to me with my tickets:
"The Oberammergau Passion Play dates back to a vow made in the year 1633. At that time the plaque raged in the entire region of southern Germany. Many people died. It was then that the people of Oberammergau vowed to portray the "Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ" every ten years. From that moment on, not one person succumbed to the Black Death.
Since then, once a decade, the people of Oberammergau have been performing a play commemorating the Passion of Jesus. Initially, for over two hundred years, the performance took place in the cemetary next to the village church. However, during the 19th Century, ever larger crowds came from all over the world, and the village community was compelled to move the performance to the site of today's spacious Passion Play Theater. "
So the experience yesterday was great. The play is held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughut a 5-month period. There's just 9 performances left this year. The play started at 2:30pm - so I took the morning to walk around the village - fantastic. It's basically a small, ski village - with outdoor activities all around.
They gave each of us a copy of the full play with our tickets. I knew that the play was performed in German only - so I took a couple hours during the morning to read through it in English. Now, I basically know most of the details - but reading it again helped me pickup things I had forgotten (or didn't even know).
2:30pm - 4,700 people filtered into the theater. It had a dome-covered roof over the spectators, with an open stage. Performances are held regardless the weather conditions. It was impressive. You were looking out over the tree-filled mountains while watching the actors. I probably had the worst seat in the house (furthest left with a partial obstruction), but I could still see OK. I'd bring binoculars if ever attending again - just to be able to see the faces of the actors better.
Now - the one thing that will prohibit me from saying this play was unbelievable - the language barrier. Although I preread the lines, and had the book on my lap, it was still difficult to follow everything. It was OK though. Just seeing the actions unfold on stage - very special. I think I've mentioned in earlier blogs, when you can't understand the words, you become more aware of the acting abilities. I was highly impressed. If these folks were trully just members of the village, they were solid. The role of Jesus was particularly difficult. This guy had paragraphs upon paragraphs to recite. He did it flawlessly. The play lasted over 5 hours - there was alot of material.
The other thing I really noticed was the harsh, aggressive tone of the German language. I don't know if there is any language which sounds more hard-core or angry. Maybe its just me - maybe my experience with German is hearing old footage of Hitler and that's why I feel this way. Jesus was supposed to be saying a verse like: "Let peace and happiness fill the world". His tone reflected words: "I HATE EVERYONE, EVERYONE SHOULD DIE". Again, I'm certain this is not the way he had said it, but that's how I felt. No offense to the Germans - this is clearly a "me" problem.
Getting over the language gap and the nature of the language - all good. The evening performance was my favorite. The lights on, the coolness of the theatre from the night air, it was great. The play took in the time frame from Jesus entering Jerusalem to the Resurrection. I was particularly amazed at the realness of the crucifixion and the stations of the cross. I wish they had allowed pictures during the performance, the scene with the 3 crosses erected on stage - the take-home scene of the performance for me.
The play ended shy of 11pm and I called it a night. A really special experience - one which I'm glad to have witnessed.
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