|
OBERAMMERGAU 2010
Recently I was privileged to lead a group of 30 folks from Kemnay, Huntly, Inverurie, New Machar, Metllick, Montrose and Stirling on a visit to Austria and Oberamergau. We spent eight days at a beautiful resort town, Petrisau with vistis to Innsbruck and Salzburg. Each evening we met for prayers in the garden of the Hotel and shared Communion on the Sunday.
The last two days were spent at the lovely village of Oberamergau where since…..they have held a passion Play as a thanksgiving to the Lord for protecting them from the ‘black death’ that was spreadiing throughout europe at that time. The actors are all amatuers, as are the ochetsra and choir and so they have to mix work or school, college or looking after tourists with rehearsals and performing. There are two or three people for each main character. To participate you either have to have been born in the village or lived there for the past twenty years. The play is performed five days a week from April until October.
Our impressions of the play? Among the things mentioned by people were the crowd scenes, sometimes over 500 men, women and children and animals – sheep, camels, horses etc all together. Scenes such as Jesus at prayer in the garden and the anguish he went through. Peter who struggled after denying Jesus. Judas who couldn’t forgive himself. The cross scene and the ressurerction scene. The memorable thing about each one was the emotion the actors put into playing their part, which must have been very draining. After the five hour play ( two and a half hours in the afternoon and the rest in the evening after a dinner break) most people just wanted to slip away and think about what they had seen and heard and felt and to pray. While we all knew the story so well, seeing and hearing it in this way led us to give thanks for Jesus. To thank God who loved us so much to send Him to us and allow Him to die for us.
|
