The Players, Not the Play

The players of Oberammergau will break a tradition of centuries. One hundred of the principal members of the cast of the Passion Play have signed a contract to appear in America. They are rehearsing now, and with their salaries they keep their village from starvation. The Passion Play last summer was an utter failure financially.

Arrangements for the tour were completed by Raymond F. Schindler, George Gordon Battle, Frank Waterman of the fountain pen company, and other New York lawyers and business men.

But after three months of negotiation, in which the whole village took part, it was decided to give no portion of the Passion Play in America. The act which the hundred players will perform will be a version of life in the Bavarian village, with especial reference to their woodcarving craft. Thus the tradition of 1644, a unique relic of medieval piety, is partially saved from the taint of commercialism