“PASSION PLAY 2010″

Passion Play: Was Jesus Flesh and Blood?

Today, the churches appreciate the possibility of telling of Jesus as a man “of flesh and blood” in a way that helps all mankind to relate to him, as is the case in the play. To this day, elements from the various stages of development throughout the play’s 350-year history still cling to the text (Othmar Weis/Joseph A. Daisenberger), the stage and the music (Rochus Dedler). However, the Oberammergau Passion Play is particularly characterized by the musically illustrated tableaux vivants inserted into the story.

These comparisons with moments in Israel’s history of faith are intended to guide the spectator toward a sympathetic understanding of what Jesus wants, things for which he has provoked resistance and which occur below the surface of the drama of this seemingly pointless failure. While, on the one hand Oberammergau looks to its tradition when accomplishing the task of telling “The Greatest Story ever Told”, nevertheless each generation will find it impossible to tell it any other way than in the horizon of its own history of life and faith. Living, authentic drama has nothing to do with clichés and calls for a personal approach to the subject matter.

In this spirit, during a work period of several years, the text and music were fundamentally revised, new settings and costumes designed and a new production created in countless rehearsals. Now, more than 2,000 Oberammergauers, actors, singers, instrumentalists and stage technicians, in approximately six hours of playing time bring to the stage those events Christianity regards as its central source of life and hope… Read more