‘Full house’ until 1990

Press, 10 May 1980, Page 15

‘Full house’ until 1990

Bv

MAX HASSEL.

Features International

Every morning, in a I small German village at [the foot of the Alps, two j men go through a series ;• of exercises designed to give them Olympic levels of strength and endurance. They are not athietes, but actors in training for ' the world’s most demand- < ing roles in a six-hour drama which includes an agonising 20-minute reenactment of the Crucifixion. , I Every decade, the villagers of remote Oberammergau revive the passion play which they have been performing every 10 years for the last three centuries. And if you have not yet booked your 1980 seat, ■you will have to wait juntil 1990. Every seat for ;the 91 performances, from May 24 to September 27, ihas already been taken and all- hotel accommodation for miles around is reserved for the entire four months. . Rudi Cwink, aged 22, a ■ ‘student, and Gregor Braetsampter, aged 43, a woodcarver, - are the two men who have been chosen, : after intense competition, i to share the part of- Jesus m this year’s play.l Not a •single moment of their training will have been

wasted; the four-month run will tax their physical and mental stamina to the utmost. Apart from the fact that each performance lasts all day — from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a two-hour break for lunch — it also includes a crucifixtion scene in which the stageJesus is required to go through 20 minutes of genuine agony. Paul Lindlbaur, the man in charge of visitors to Oberammergau, explains: “Jesus in the passion play has to support his own weight by lodging the back of his heels on a tiny platform of wood. “There is no other support for his body or his arms, so naturally it imposes a strain on his muscles, particularly in his legs, back and shoulders. “He can manage to sustain it for the 20 minutes that is required — but any longer would create difficulties, “Rudi and Gregor were picked for the role of Jesus rwo years ago. They were among a short-list of

five men considered by the Passion Play mittee.”The committee consists of 24 elders of the village. In selecting a Jesus they look for actors with considerable strength — plus a suitable facial appearance. But the main qualification is that the actors must come from Oberammergau itself. With a cast of 1200, there is a part for almost every available adult, plus 250 children, including babes-in-arms. There is hardly a house in this village of 4700 which does not have someone on stage throughout the season. The other main stipulation is that the actresses sharing the part of Mary, mother of Jesus, must be unmarried. The two in the part this year are Lrmi Dentg, aged 38, and Martha Widedeman, aged 19. The stars know that in the 1990 performance they will probably be among the extras, while new

faces take the leading roles — just as the men and women with the principal parts in 1970 are in the background this year. But although the cast changes every ten years, the play itself is virtually unchanged since it was introduced almost 350 years ago. When the Black Plague swept central Europe in 1634, villagers prayed for deliverance, and although hundreds of . lives were claimed in the surrounding area, Oberammergau itself escaped the disease entirely. Residents interpreted this as divine intervention, and decided to stage the passion play as a thanksgiving. Ever since, villagers have gathered once every decade to enact the story of Christ’s Passion, from His entry into Jerusalem to the Ascension. Today the play takes

place in a huge theatre built specially in 1910 and seating 4700. The stage is big enough for 800 of the cast to appear at the same time. This year, half a million people will go to Oberammergau to see the spectacle. Says Paul Lindlbaur; “Most of our overseas visitors come from the United States, followed by the British, the Irish and the Japanese. “Every' seat for every performance has been sold since the beginning of the year. Every hotel bedroom and every spare room in every private house has been booked solid till after the last performance.” Hans Maier, the woodcarver who is directing this year’s play, is now putting his cast through the last of the rehearsals which began more than a year ago.