OBERAMMERGAU PLAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18021, 21 February 1922, Page 7

OBERAMMERGAU PLAY.

FILMING RIGHTS REFUSED.

AMERICAN BIDS REJECTED. United Service. BERLIN. Feb. 19.

The villagers of Oberammergau are agitated over the keen bidding of American cinematograph producers for the rights to take a film of the Passion Play. One magnate offered 70,000,000 marks. The villagers decided that they would uot permit any filming of their sacred production.

Oberammeiyau, a small village of Upper Bavaria, is famous for the performance of a Passion Play every tenth year, to which thousands of visitors flock, f his dramatic representation of the sufferings of Christ is not a survival of a mediaeval mystery or miracle play, but took its rise from a vow made by the inhabitants hi 1633 with the hope of staying a plague then raging. The original text and arrangements were probably made by the monks of Ettal, a monastery a little higher up the valley, but they were carefully'remodelled by the parish priest at the beginning of the present century when the Oberammergau play obtained exemption from the general suppression of such performances by the Bavarian Government. The music was composed by Rochus Dedler, schoolmaster of the parish, in 1814. The performances take place on the Sundays of summer in a large open-air theatre holding 6000 persons, and each lasts about nine hours, with a short intermission at noon. Each scene from the history of Christ is prefaced by a tableau df typical import from the Old Testament. About 700 actors are required, and all belong to tho village. The proceeds of the performances are devoted to tho good of the community, after defrayal of the costs and payment of a small remuneration to tho actors. The villagers regard the Passion Play as a solemn act of religious worship, and the performances are characterised by the greatest reverence. The principal parte are usually hereditary in certain families and are fcssigned with regard to imor.il character as well as dramatic ability. It is considered a disgrace not to bo allowed to take part ill the play, and the part of Christ is looked upon as one of tno greatest of earthly honours. The everyday avocations of the village folk are the making of tags and the carving of crucifixes, rosaries, and images of saints.