THE PASSION PLAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12696, 30 December 1901, Page 6

THE PASSION PLAY.

IMPRESSIONS OF A NEW ZEALANDER.

■A CONTINENTAL TOUR. Professor Macmillaiu Brown, together with Mrs Brown and their two little children, returned to- Ghristchurch a few days ago, after a trip to Great Britain and Europe, extending over two years. They had a threefold object. The first was to improve Professor Brown's eyesight, which had been giving him considerable anxiety, the second to attend to the education of their eldest daughter, and the third pleasure. The second and third were attained, but Professor Brown has returned without any improvement whatever to his eyesignt. He went to Germany, and consulted one of the most famous specialists in Europe, who has effected some remarkable cures. Three methods were adopted at the establishment : massage of the optic nerve, hot-air pack, and mercury rubbings; and sulphite of copper treatment of gout of the eyes. The New Zealander underwent the massage treatment, which is an exceedingly painful process. The operator rubs hard with his two thumbs above the patient's eyebrows, and then presses his thumbs into the optic nerves close to the bridge of the nose, until the patient cries out with pain, which is so great that people sometimes faint while the operation is being performed. Two-third's of the patients, most of whom are English and American, go away completely or partially cured. The only benefit Professor Brown derived, however, was to discover that the massage treatment of his eyes [was an excellent means of inducing sleep. The most interesting feature of the whole, tour was a visit to the village of O'berammergau, where the Passion Play was

bsing performed. It isi described as a mort fascinating sight. A rather curious stipulation is that any person who .desires to buy a ticket must, live in a peasant's house. It is thought that the idea of this is to- prevent the erection of large hotels, which would absorb a great part sf the money brought into the village by visitors. The peasants' houses, are large; and well fitted up, and offer very good accommodation. The charge is 12s a night for each boarder. The tickets for admission to the play.are 10s each, 'and it is estimated that in three or four months ever £500,000 goes into the village, which is in a very prosperous condition. The theatre where the play is performed holds from 5000 to 6000 people, and is generally crowded at each performance, which is always given on a Sunday. It is like a large railway station, open at the end where the stage is erected. Above the stage, mountains are seen, and fruit trees hang over the scenery, while, as- the sun goes round, the shadows of the trees shift

across the floor of the stage. Tbe performance commenced at 8 a.m. and went on> till noon, commenced again at 1 p.m., and! concluded at 5.30 p.m. "The play," says Professor Brown, "is by far the finest' dramatic performance I have ever seen. There was nothing in London to be compared with it. The acting was natural and simple and effective, but the staging was brilliant. Nothing that I have seen was more influenced by the Greek ideals than the acting at Oberammergani. We sat there for eight hours and a half, with only one interval, and were neither fatigued nor tired of the performance. There was manifestly a very good impression on the audience. Throughout most of the acts you could have heard a pin drop amongst thos© assembled thousands. Although' the language was German, probably more than half of those present were Eng-lish-speaking people, yet every action was followed with the utmost interest. At the close pretty well all the ladies were in tears, and 1 as for the gentlemen, they were simply 'holding back.'" Each act is introduced by a chorus, as in the Greek plays, which relates what is going to happen, and then marches off and stands by and watches the play from a, spectator's point of view. Sometimes about 600 performers appear on the stage. The ideas, dresses, groupings and everything else in connection with the staging appear to have received infinite study and consideration, and to be taken from 'the Scriptures. The gorgeous colours of the robss, the long hair of the performers, and even, the attitudes and mannerisms assumed, irresistibly remind the spectators of the old Biblical pictures. The play might be produced amongst the most Presbyterian people. There was absolutely nothing of a distinctively Roman Catholic nature, except Hhe incident in connection with Sfc Veronica and the impression of Christ's face on the handkerchief. In the Last Supper, the Communion cup was handed round as in a Presbyterian church. The New Zealanders spoke to several of the performers, who were noticeable in the streets on account of their long hair. In the peasant's house next to the one in which Professor and Mrs Brown were staying, there lived the girl who took the part of the Virgin Mary. Her name is Anna Flunger, and she was a waiting-waid. 'She is described as a simple, gentle-mannered madden. In the same house as the New Zealanders there was a brother of Judas Tscariot, who, by the way, possesses real histrionic genius. He turned the performance into a play of Judas Iscariot, carrying the audience with him completely. At first they were. inclined to hiss him; at the close they.almost wept for him. The Christ is a stove-mender in the village. He has a gentle and a. beautiful face, bearing a striking resemblance to the traditional pictures of the Saviour, and he brought out prominently the gentle and enduring side of Christ's life. His name is Anton Lang. The former Christ (Joseph Myer), was leader of the chorus a* the recent performance. He is a tall man with a strong voice, and, apparently, a stronger wilt. He gave the impression

that lie would make a splendid Moses, but not a, splendid Christ. All the performers entered into the spirit of the play. The audience felt that they had beea present at a very religious performance Professor Brown says that if anyone desires to see how the Church and the stage may be united, he should see the next Passion Play at Oberammergau. The Continental tour started from Weymouth, and then went to the Channel Islands, and thence to St Malo, an old and intere'sting fortified town on the coast of France. The visitors passed through several other French towns and cities, admiring the ancient architecture and beautiful churches and other buildings. Wiesbaden, Stuttgart, Augsburg and other places in Germany, as well as Oberammergau, were touched at and admired, and the Bavarian Alps were crossed. From Lake Constance they went to the region of the Black Forest, through other, towns to Hamburg, and to Copenhagen, Helsingor, which is the Elsinoro of "Hamlet." Considerable time.was spent in Norway and Sweden; Switzerland and Scotland also came in the tour.

A record of the most interesting places visited is embodied in a series of excellent photographs taken by Mrs Brown. The tour was undertaken while feeling m_ regard to the Boer War was pretty high, but the New Zealanders were treated with respect everywhere. In the principal countries the feeling was of a pronounced pro-Boer character, but" in Norway and Sweden there was little or no feelmg against the British. The newspapers in those two countries were also very fair, while those in other countries manifestly manipulated the cablegrams and made misrepresentations in their news columns, as well as in their leading articles.