PASSION PLAY. A performance which
takes place every tenth year in the village of
Oberammergau, in the Bavarian highlands. In
1633, as an act of gratitude for the cessation of
a plague which had desolated the surrounding
country, the villagers vowed to represent the
passion of Christ every ten years, and have ever
since observed their vow. The inhabitants of
this secluded spot, long noted for their skill in
carving wood and ivory, have a rare union of
artistic cultivation with perfect simplicity. The
personator of Christ considers his part an act
of religious devotion; he and the other principal
performers are said to be selected for their holy
life, and consecrated to their work with prayer. The players, about six hundred in number, are all villagers, who, though they have no artistic instruction except from the parish priest, act their parts with much dramatic power and a delicate appreciation of character. The Gospel narrative is closely followed; the acts alternate with tableaux from the Old Testament and choral odes. Many thousands of the peasantry are attracted by the spectacle from all parts of the Tyrol and Bavaria, among whom the same earnest and devout demeanor prevails as among the performers. Consult: Stead, The Passion Play (London, 1890); Grein, Das Oberammergauer Passionspiel (Leipzig, 1880), See .