‘We could be connected to this’: Passion Play trip highlights universality of message

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The open-air Passion Play Theatre in Oberammergau, Germany, holds about 5,000.

Photos provided

They made a promise to God, those villagers in 1600s Bavaria.

This was their vow: If God would spare everyone in town who remained, if God would keep them alive amid the plague that had spread to their region, they would perform a play about Christ’s Passion.

Nearly 400 years later, another plague postponed that play for two years. But this year the villagers of Oberammergau, Germany, continued keeping their promise.

And when the curtain rose on a performance of the 2022 Passion Play, a group from Mohawk United Methodist Church was there to see it.

“I was fascinated … just the whole process, and this is a promise that they kept,” church member Gail Stanley said. “It’s the passion of these people to express and want to continue to tell this story.”

The Passion Play, which is typically performed once every 10 years, attracts people from all over the world to Oberammergau, a village of more than 5,000 in southern Germany. The play involves about 2,000 residents and follows the last days of Jesus’ life on earth, through his crucifixion, death and resurrection.

Residents make up the cast, crew and choir. Only those who meet length-of-residency requirements are eligible to be in the play.

“If you want a speaking part, you pretty much have to have grown up there,” the Rev. Kerry O’Brien said.

O’Brien, pastor of the Mohawk church, first heard of the play long before he entered the ministry. His pastor was forming a group to attend the 1990 production. He didn’t think much about that then, but friends went to the 2010 play, and his interest grew.

In 2019, he came to Mohawk as pastor and began inviting others to go on a trip to the 2020 play. Because of COVID, that production was postponed to this year.

The postponement’s timing worked out for Mohawk members Rick and Susan Edwards. They both retired in 2021 and decided to join the group of church members and friends making the trip. They saw the Passion Play on Sept. 22.

Susan Edwards, like Stanley, found the portrayal of the disciple Judas intriguing.

“He realized what a mistake he’d made in betraying Jesus,” she said, and there was “a lot of expression and sorrow and heavy crying. His performance just really struck me.”

What stood out most to Rick Edwards was the singing.

“The choir probably impacted me more than anything. They were really good,” he said. “They were singing in German, but it was just angelic.”

Act 1 lasted from 1:30-4 p.m. After a dinner break, the group returned to the open-air theater for Act 2, which lasted from 7-9:30 p.m. There was no glimpse of the risen Christ in this production of the play, but Mary the mother of Jesus stood by the empty tomb and sang of his resurrection and her joy.

“There was no cast call,” Stanley said. “The play just ends — quietly, finally. It’s not about personal glorification; it’s about presenting the story.”

The script is different, or at least adapted, from decade to decade. The production includes live animals — picture doves flying out of cages when Jesus clears the temple of the money changers. Events unfolding on stage are complemented by a large choir, an orchestra, and “living pictures” in which other actors wordlessly present scenes from the Bible’s Old Testament.

For example, the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion was preceded by a depiction of Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac, just before an angel tells him not to.

“You see the father with the dagger poised,” O’Brien said, “followed by the live-action scene with the son of God being sacrificed.”

Watching the events of the Bible familiar to her, but presented in a different country and different language, was fresh and meaningful to Susan Edwards.

From her seat, she saw “how we have our differences, but again, how we could be connected to this — universally connected — and having the same faith, the same reaction of emotion,” she said. “The play does bring the real message of Christ being a sacrifice.”

THE PASSION PLAY

Passion plays have been performed in other places and other times, but Oberammergau’s has a long tradition and wide appeal.

In 1633, villagers promised “to perform the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ every tenth year, in so far as no one was to die of the plague anymore,” according to the play’s website (https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/en/home).

Following the plot: Though the play is performed in German, scripts are also printed in various languages and available for sale to playgoers, who can use them to read and follow along. Some do, and others rely on their own familiarity with the events described in the Bible.

Looking ahead: Preparations begin well in advance. The cast for the 2022 play, first expected to be performed in 2020, was announced in 2018. Male actors grow out hair and beards leading up to the play.

People can already sign up for email updates about the 2030 Passion Play.

Through the years: The first of the Oberammergau Passion Plays was performed in 1634 in a cemetery. Plays followed in 1644, 1654, 1664 and 1674. Then organizers decided to offer the play in years ending in zero, so the next was in 1680. That 10-year tradition has continued with few exceptions.

The site mentions there was no play in 1770, amid a ban in which an official objected to theatrical depiction of the sacred story; villagers’ appeal was denied. There was no play in 1810, either, amid officials’ push for secularization (but the village obtained permission in 1811 for five performances). There were 11 performances in 1815.

There was no play in 1920, following casualties suffered in World War II, but performances followed in 1922 and then 1930. Added performances happened in 1934 for the play’s 300th anniversary; Adolf Hitler attended one but found Pilate the most admirable character.

There was no play in 1940 amid World War II.

Additional plays in 1984 marked the play’s 350th anniversary.

The 2020 play was postponed because of COVID. The 42nd Passion Play was performed May 14-Oct. 2, 2022, five days a week (not on Mondays and Wednesdays).