We’re rehearsing every day now, and the last few days we’ve also been wearing costumes. 30 robes for folk actors were still missing. That’s why the sewing machines were rattling around in the tailor shop again. After Corona’s two-year hiatus, seamstresses have already had to adjust some of the clothes – some young people in particular have outgrown them. A total of 2,100 of the approximately 5,200 residents of Oberammergau participate in the traditional performance. There are also sheep, goats, two horses, chickens, pigeons, a donkey and two camels. They’ve been getting used to Oberammergau for a few weeks now.
“Everything is pretty much ready,” says Frederik Mayet, a spokesman for Passion, who also plays Jesus for the second time. “The text fits, sometimes it’s still about the quests.” Mayet has already survived the first crucifixion: he is hanging from a wooden cross in a black and purple climbing harness, with his feet on small planks.
Since a visibly emotional Stückl canceled the 2020 premiere, the world has changed significantly – with a pandemic, climate crisis, war in Ukraine, growing poverty and hunger. Even more than in previous Passion Plays, this time he wants to focus on the life story of Jesus. His central question: “How does this Jesus fit into our time?” The 60-year-old is not primarily concerned with specific events such as the war in Ukraine or the corona crisis. “We are constantly at war,” he said recently in an essay, recalling Syria. The world has been on the move for years.
Since a plague vote in 1633, the people of Oberammergau have staged the play about the life, suffering and resurrection of Jesus as a monumental epic every ten years. For the fourth time, Stückl is staging. He fundamentally modernized the nearly 400-year-old amateur game. He gave women more weight and equality and freed the game from Christian anti-Judaisms. He lets Jesus speak phrases in Hebrew: Jesus was a Jew, his crucifixion was about Jewish internal conflicts.
Stückl turned the Bible into a play. All the words of Jesus are found in the Holy Scriptures. With other characters, the game master gives more freedom and sometimes inserts an explanatory sentence. Stückl deleted the prologue: there used to be some sort of explanation between scenes, now they must speak for themselves. Stückl wants to give people more weight than before, also with Old Testament scenes in the so-called living images. One shows the flight of the Israelites who were expelled from their country and their desire for liberation, an image of burning actuality.
The staging stays close to the story, though not necessarily historically accurate. The costumes are reminiscent of previous centuries, as is the hairstyle. On the streets of the Upper Bavarian city, you can see the spectacle approaching. Loose hair and beard characterize the image. All players except Romans and Angels have had to grow their hair out since Ash Wednesday 2021 – although it has not been proven whether long hair and beards were actually in vogue 2,000 years ago. Some of the beards are a little less lush than usual. Because of Corona, Stückl relaxed the ban on shaving – the FFP2 mask doesn’t look so good with a beard.
Costume designer and set designer Stefan Hageneier converted the stage into an extensive temple complex. This political and religious center of Jerusalem forms the setting throughout the play. It begins with important biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments: the expulsion from paradise, then the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as described in the Bible on a royal donkey. Around 100 presentations are planned until October 2nd. For the first time, two Muslims from Oberammergau take on the leading roles. For the theater man Stückl, who is also director of Munich’s Volkstheater, what counts – as he has always emphasized – is not religion, but acting talent.
Concerns that the premiere might fail again due to Corona are slowly fading. Before rehearsals, however, all musicians are tested – a considerable logistical effort, particularly in rehearsals for folk scenes with up to 600 people. The manager doesn’t want to take any risks. Many elderly people in their 80s are on stage, including Stückl’s father, who this time is High Priest Annas. The oldest player is approaching 100 years old – and some have already participated in ten passions, from childhood to old age. The passion: This is a passion for many people from Oberammergau.
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