TABLEAU I. The Fall: Adam and Eve expelled from Eden. HE Passion Play has a double prelude, one of Prayer and one of Nature. Precisely at eight o'clock the booming of cannon planted beneath the peak of the Kofel announces that the drama is about to be commenced. If the curtain of the central stage were removed while the musical overture is being played, so as to at once reveal what is only to be gradually unfolded, the heart of many indifferent spectators would be filled with surprise. In the principal scene of the future labours of the players assemble all the members of the community who are to take an active part in the performances, upwards of five hundred in number, together with their pastor, and there engage in silent prayer. That is the unseen prelude to the Passion Play. There is also the prelude of Nature. The eye, wandering far beyond the limits of the stage, dwells upon the green sun-bathed landscape of the valley. To the right and left the gaze rests on mountains fringed with firs, and, more prominent than all, on the high-peaked Kofel, with its high cross gilded by the morning's rays. The ear C of the visitor is captivated by soft, thrilling melodies, as the lark soars from her nest among the meadow grass beyond, and pours out her morning hymn to the Creator. From the distant hills the tinkling of the cow-bells comes faintly to the ear. Nature and Art unite in preparing the mind for the grand scene of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. A wonderful prelude, which has inspired in an English poet the following beautiful lines : How clearly on my inner sense are borne morn, And cries of flocks afar, and mixed with these The green delightful tumult of the trees. The birds that o'er us from the upper day Threw flitting shade, and went their airy way, The bright-robed chorus and the silent. throng, And that first burst and sanctity of song! The Chorus of Schutzgeister appears upon the stage. They stand before the audience with hands folded across the breast, in the attitude of prayerful repose. The Choragus opens the Play by explaining the main object of the whole performance: how the fallen human race became reconciled to God through the blood of His only-begotten Son. This main object, the whole extent and scope of the Passion Play, is to be exhibited in two tableaux, which the Choragus introduces in a brief prologue. The first type represents the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden-symbolical of the Fall; the second, the Adoration of the Cross-typical of Redemption. We have in these two tableaux a wonderful symbolism: the Tree of Death with the forbidden fruit, whose mortal taste brought sin and sorrow into the world: the Tree of Life, or the Cross, symbolical of hope and refuge for sinful and repentant humanity. The first verse of the intoned prologue falls with powerful intensity on the FIRST TABLEAU. After the Choragus has finished, the Chorus divides and retires to the extremities of the central stage. The first typical picture is then revealed. Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden of Eden. by the angel with the flaming sword, flee from the threatened punishment. Paradise is in the background, and in the centre is seen the tree of life, laden with luscious fruit, while from its branches the tempter, in the form. of a serpent, is seen. While the tableau is exposed, to the gaze tators, the Choragus gives in song the story of its significance : Die Menschheit ist verbannt aus Edens Au'n Von Sünd' umnachtet und von Todes- Ihr ist zum Lebensbaum-der Eingang Es drohet in des Cherubs Hand das Flammenschwert. Doch von Ferne, von Calvarias Höhen Aus des Kreuzbaumes Zweigen wehen Gott! Erbarmer! Sünder zu begnaden, of the spec From Eden and its tree of knowledge bann'd, See our first parents, sin-benighted, stand! God, through the cherub, doth His wrath proclaim, And guards the entrance with a sword of flame! But in the distance, from 'mid Calvary's throes, Through the dark night the glow of morn appears. See, from the branches of the Cross there Sweet, balmy peace to all created spheres! Thy first-born Son Thou sendest from above SECOND TABLEAU.-The curtain falls after the Choragus has sung the first stanza. When the Schutzgeister have taken up their positions across the entire extent of the stage, the leader announces the message of salvation. Then the Chorus retires and the second tableau, the Adoration of the Cross, is revealed. Before a large cross, planted on a rock (symbolical of Christianity), a number of heavenly genii (little children of the village clad in garments of white and mantles of bright colours) stand or kneel in the attitude of worship. The tableau, so beautiful in itself, is executed with marvellous art by these infant dramatists. The angelic forms and their tiny wards are silent, but the feelings by which they are animated, and the prayer of which their hearts are full, find utterance in the words of the Schutzgeister, who fall upon their knees and chant the following hymn : Ew'ger! höre deiner Kinder Stammeln ! Folget dem Versöhner nun zur Seite, Eternal God, O hear Thy children's prayer, tone; Those who to see the Sacrifice repair, Oh! follow close by the Redeemer's side, Nor leave Him while He struggles with the tide, Until for you the victory He hath. In this brief prologue, in the plastic tableaux, and the songs of the Chorus, are embodied the general outline of the drama and the whole scope of the drama of redemption. ACT I-CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. HE Chorus has scarcely disappeared when the first dramatic act of the Passion Play commences. From the distance, beyond the city as it were, sounds of rejoicing, of glad shouting and singing, are heard. The audience must, in this case, leave imagination to supply the scenery. Down the slope of Olivet comes the Messianic procession, and one hears the singing and rejoicing of the crowds of Passover pilgrims and the people of Jerusalem who welcome Jesus to the Holy City. From the side streets bands of Hebrew children, led by their parents or teachers, come forth to join the throng that has already collected about Christ. In the midst of the crowd we distinguish Christ Himself, seated upon the ass, and His disciples following. The procession passes from the central stage to the street leading into Jerusalem, and then through the gateway at the right of the stage into the sunshine of the broad proscenium (which represents Jerusalem). There are fully five hundred persons before Him. The children, boys and girls, wave their palm branches and sing with full hearts their Hosannas, and men and women of all ages, clad in picturesque costumes, join in the exultant crowd. The person of the Saviour, surrounded by His disciples and the welcoming multitude, forms the central figure of the scene. He remains seated upon the ass, and raises His hands as if to bless or teach the people, though His words are lost in the strains of the beautiful Hosanna-chorus, sung by hundreds of voices: The chief object of attraction, the figure of Christ, is now before every eye. He has reached the centre of the proscenium, and descends with grace ful ease from the animal on which He has been sitting. Of tall stature and noble bearing, with long flowing hair of jet black, falling luxuriantly over his shoulders, the actor who represents the Saviour appears. Of the scene a writer said in 1871: "No painting ever brought to the mind so complete a realization of our ideal as this dramatic delineator, whose life has been one of years of preparation for his task. No spectator could have gazed upon the Saviour, although in the drama, for the first time and remain untouched by the solemnity and grandeur of the scene." The great German dramatist Edward Devrient, who wrote an interesting book on the Passion Play of 1850, when Tobias Flunger was the delineator of the character of Christ, said: "The scene was noble and affecting. A most wonderful impression was made when the Saviour Himself, with whose form our imagination had been busied ever since the days of childhood, seemed actually to stand bodily before us, moving, and exercising an indescribable authority. The figure was full of heavenly mildness and majesty. The appearance and the movements were such as to make us imagine that some medieval painting had been endowed with life." Joseph Maier has a grander presence than either of his predecessors; although Flunger's personification seems to have been milder and sweeter. While the people gather about the Saviour, a new scene is revealed. THE TEMPLE SCENE.-A number of high-priests and individuals belonging to the Pharisees, attracted by the noise and the general commotion, enter the proscenium by the opposite gateway, that is, as if coming from within Jerusalem. The Saviour, having descended from the ass, addresses His disciples in words which give full intimation of His approaching sufferings and death. "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John xii. 23, 24.) Suddenly a calm is perceived spreading over the multitude. The Hosannas have subsided, and Christ approaches the centre of the proscenium, when, the curtain of the central stage being raised, the scene described in Mark xi. 15 appears in all its remarkable interest before the spectators. "Jesus went into the Temple, and began to cast out them that bought and sold in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves." With a feeling of deep sadness and consternation the Lord beholds the signs of profanation in His Father's house, near the stately columns of whose entrance the traders have set up their tables. At this sight the Saviour, folding His hands as if to offer a silent prayer, advances with a dignified air towards the profaners and, in a tone of mingled grief and indignation, exclaims: "What is this I see? Is this the house of God, or is it a market-place! Must the strangers who come from the lands of the Heathen to adore Jehovah perform their devotions among the throng of money-changers? And ye priests, guardians of the Sanctuary, can you look on this abomination and suffer it to continue? Woe to this venal race of hirelings! He who searches the heart knows wherefore ye tolerate and further such disorder!" "Who is this man?" asks one of the traders. The people, gazing with anxiety upon the scene, exclaim: "It is the great |