“It is not our aim to shine in the art of acting; that would
be presumptuous and ridiculous in simple country people; but
it must be the earnest desire of each one to try and represent
worthily this most holy mystery.”
Thus spoke Pastor Daisenberger in his sermon to the peasant
actors of Ober-Ammergau before the production of the Passion
Play in 1870. In these simple, devout words of their minister,
Archdeacon Farrar found the echo of the deeply religious feeling
which animates the peasants of the Bavarian village, to which so
many of the sordid outer world have thronged. There is no taint
of commercialism nor worldly ambition, we are assured, in the
hearts of these peasant actors. Time and again have they refused
lucrative offers to produce their historic drama elsewhere;
and they do not, it is said, yield to the temptation to extort
money from the tourists who invariably flock to witness the
performance. Even the recent floods have given proof how they
can bear adversity.
(1477)
See TYPES, DISTINCT.