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OBERAMMERGAU PASSIONSSPIELE: EXPLORING A SACRED THEATRE
By Jack Paterson | Part 2 of 10
Date: June 2022
Location: Oberammergau, Germany
Activity: Passionsspiele in Performance
I arrive in Oberammergau exhausted. An overnight FlixBus from Paris, an early morning coffee at the Munich Hauhbahof to pick up my hard copy ticket from a friend of a friend, a train ride partially the way there, and then – due to some track being down – a shuttle bus the rest of the way. On my back is one of my favorite purchases, an Osprey backpack. It’s large enough to hold most of my meager possessions but small enough to qualify as carry-on on most budget airlines.
It’s 12:30 and I have an hour before the Passionsspiele begins. My feet remember the way to the theatre from the small train/ bus station, and I drop my bag at the coat check. Oberammergau is different from the last time I was here. Then, the village was relatively quiet with few outsiders other than some hikers and the soldiers stationed nearby amongst the late season snowflakes. Now it is teaming with people – mostly tourists in shorts under the mountain sun, many older in age, many speaking English with American accents. For an older German couple I meet, coming to the Passionsspiele has been a dream long in the making.
A hundred and twenty years ago – despite all my travels still an unimaginable amount of time for a first generation North American – Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf described it in his “A Rabbi’s Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play“ as:
“…the people streamed toward the hall, in all sorts of attire, speaking all kinds of languages, displaying all sorts of physiognomies, representing all sorts of classes and conditions:—lords and cardinals, bishops and priests, Jews and Gentiles, generals and privates, merchant-princes and venders, for all I know, probably also kings and queens incognito. Some came on horseback, some in touring-coaches, some in liveried carriages, some in hay-wagons; some who had breakfasted, and some who enjoyed their breakfast while marching along, a glass of beer in one hand, an opera-glass and a sausage in the other.”
Somethings haven’t changed.
We enter through security, two long lines with men on the left, women on the right. I raise my arms for the pat down – cigarettes, passport, phone and ticket in one hand, my notepad, pen and an English language script in the other hand.
“Anything in pockets?”
“Uh..lighter…small change.”
Whenever I’m in Europe, I’m constantly reminded of how much more heightened security is than back home in Canada.
I find my seat and look around. The venue is packed like a stadium event. There are a few empty chairs scattered around. I wonder if those belonged to people who purchased tickets before Covid and what may have happened to them.
The Passionsspiele starts and I begin to cry. Perhaps due to the travel exhaustion, perhaps because this is the realization of over two years of effort and emails, perhaps – if I’m a little less selfish – because I know the hopes and dreams of an entire community have been channeled into this production.
***
Since 1634, the Oberammergau Passionsspiele has been performed every 10 years by the inhabitants of the Bavarian village of Oberammergau in Germany. The earliest continuous survivor of the age of Christian religions vernacular drama, it is one of the longest running western performing arts traditions and a UNESCO event of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
During the Catholic/ Protestant Thirty Year War (1618-1648), the bubonic plague devastated Bavaria. According to local legend, the Oberammergau villagers vowed that if God spared them, they would perform a play every 10 years depicting the life and death of Jesus. No one died of plague after that vow and the villagers have kept their word to this day.
Lead by prominent German director Christian Stückl (Artistic Director of Münchner Volkstheater, recipient of 2021 DEUTSCHER KOORDINIERUNGSRAT Buber-Rosenzweig-Medaille for outstanding service promoting Christian & Jewish interfaith dialogue) since 1986. It is an unbelievable community effort. This year over 1700 performers, singers, musicians, and technicians – all nonprofessional residents of the village and spanning all ages – perform in a 7hr spectacle on one of the worlds largest open-air stages. Participants must be either born in Oberammergau or residents of over 20 years. For a many, it’s an act of spiritual devotion.
The “Passion” refers to the Christian theological term expressing Jesus’s spiritual, emotional, and physical pain over the crucifixion. Passion plays are dramatic representations of his trial, suffering, death, and resurrection. Far more than a staged drama for most who participate in them, passion plays are opportunities to interact with and meditate on the stories of their faith.
Originating in traditions of the Latin Church, Oberammergau’s Passionsspiele has evolved. Drawing from the past and informed by the present, the contemporary play comprises spoken dramatic dialogue, contemporary and traditional music, choral accompaniment, tableaux vivants (living pictures), and newly created text (this year including the story of “Kaspar Schisler“, who is believed to have brought the 1633 plague to Oberammergau). It has become one of Germany’s leading religious, cultural, and theatrical events.
NEXT: OBSERVING REHEARSALS
Links:
A Rabbi’s Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play: https://sacred-texts.com/jud/rio/index.htm
DEUTSCHER KOORDINIERUNGSRAT Buber-Rosenzweig-Medaille: https://www.deutscher-koordinierungsrat.de/node/1039
Münchner Volkstheater: https://www.muenchner-volkstheater.de
Oberammergau Passionsspiele: www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/en/home
UNESCO: https://www.unesco.de/en/culture-and-nature/passion-play-oberammergau
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Jack (he, him) is an award-winning devisor, director, translator, and creative producer whose work and practice have taken him across Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and around the world. Projects have ranged from contemporary devising, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and multi-lingual experiences to new works & texts, contemporary approaches to classical theatre and main stages. Shows under his direction have garnered over thirty theatre award nominations with many wins. He trained at leading international theatrical institutions including Circle in the Square (NYC, USA), GITIS The University of Performing Arts (Moscow, RU), ISI Indonesian Institute of the Arts (Bali, INA) and received his Masters in Fine Arts from the renown East 15 Acting School and University of Essex (London, UK).
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