CHRIST OF OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY CHARGED WITH BEING A NAZI

Wanganui Chronicle, 8 March 1947, Page 5

CHRIST OF OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY CHARGED WITH BEING A NAZI

London, March 7. Alois Lang, who plays the part of Christ in the Oberammergau Passion Play is to appear before a denazification court charged with having been a member of the Nazi party, according to a British United Press report from Munich. Several other members of the Oberammergau cast are also accused of having been members of th e Nazi party. There is likely to be a mass trial. Even though Hilter campaingned against Christianity, throughout his dictatorship the centuries-old Passion Play performance at Oberammergau was allowed to continue, more or less uninterrupted. The only other place wher e the Passion Play is performed is in the mountains of Southern Oklahoma, where the spectacle of the performance is now rivalling and in some respects excelling that of the original. Since 1926 the Passion Play has been performed on a 1200 feet high ridge on Wichita Mountain, 20 miles from the town of Lawton. The amateur cast has grown from five to 3000, including cowboys, businessmen and housewives. A permanent replica of Jerusalem is built on the ridge. The walls and gateways of the Holy City, Pilate’s Judgement Hall Cevary’s Hill with its three rough wooden crosses, and the garden of Gethsemane have all been recreated. A feature of the project is the participation of people of all colours and creeds. Actors have included Indians, Negroes, Chinese, Mahommedans and and all sects of the Christian Church. The 400,000 spectators sit all night on rugs to watch the 4 a.m. beginning to the 56 scenes. The performers do not speak. A Gospel narrative is given over microphones. Floodlights illumine the scenes. The rol e of Christ is interchanged by several actors. The Resurrection scene is at dawn. A plane skywrites the Benediction at the close.