Passion Play 2022: statements more topical than ever - celebrities enthusiastic about "epochal work"

Created: 05/15/2022, 23:16

By: Tanja Brinkmann

He who is innocent cast the first stone: Frederik Mayet (right), here with Judas (Cengiz Görür), shows a pugnacious, sometimes angry Jesus.

© Mayr

Jesus has risen.

Hallelujah.

This ends the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau.

"Impressive" is the word that is used most frequently after the acclaimed premiere on Saturday.

Numerous celebrities from politics, church, business, sport and culture experience this.

Oberammergau -

white-blue sky, the view of the Aufacker and lively birdsong - that doesn't quite fit what is happening on the gray stage of the Oberammergau Passion Theater.

The high priest Caiaphas (Maximilian Stöger) is deceiving Judas (Cengiz Görür) and thus getting him to betray Jesus (Frederik Mayet).

The figure that director Christian Stückl shows in his fourth passion cannot be reduced to this alone.

Judas is torn, doubting the path his friend has taken and only wants him to speak to the Sanhedrin.

Under the impact of the Corona crisis and in view of the Ukraine war, Stückl has set completely new accents.

His premiere audience notices that about Judas.

The 4,400 spectators also recognize this from Jesus, who is more argumentative and sometimes angry.

Calling for non-violent resistance and at times despairing of humanity.

“Christian has the feeling that today's world needs a Jesus who is louder, who shouts the message to the world.

He has to be more combative," says Mayet.

"We worked very hard to ensure that Jesus had a different presence and a different anger."

Impressed: (from left) Udo Wachtveitl, Ilse Aigner and Burghart Klausner.

© Peter Kneffel

It's no wonder that the word "impressive" was the main word during the break.

The spectators, including many celebrities from politics, church, business, sport and culture, are visibly impressed by what they experience on the big stage.

"Many of Jesus' statements are more relevant than ever," says Collien Ulmen-Fernandes.

The presenter and actress has delved deeply into the vow game.

For two weeks she accompanied the Oberammergauer for a ZDF documentary that is to be broadcast at Pentecost.

"It's unbelievable what I experienced here.

The whole place is in a state of emergency.”

Passion Play in Oberammergau: "High Art" as shown by Christian Stückl

Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), who invited to the state reception in the tent next to the theater, also noticed this.

He is highly impressed by what he experiences for the first time.

No wonder that the passion, a Bavarian cultural asset, has been an intangible world cultural heritage since 2014.

"We are very proud of this."

Full house: 4400 spectators experience the premiere of the 42nd Vow Game in Oberammergau.

© Bartl

Stückl also feels pride and, above all, deep gratitude.

"The best thing about this passion is how well everyone participates," says the game master.

“Everyone, regardless of age and social class, sticks together in a way that is not self-evident.

It brings tears to my eyes.” Once again.

Already in 2020, when the game was postponed due to corona, he had to cry.

Now it happens with happiness.

The 60-year-old calls out to his main actors and the management team, who witnesses the state reception, on behalf of all those involved: "You're just a good bunch."

Passion Play in Oberammergau: An “Epochal Work”

Ilse Aigner also noticed this: "I am deeply impressed by how much heart and soul the people of Oberammergau put into their vow game," emphasizes the President of the State Parliament (CSU).

For Jutta Speidel it is “very high art what Christian Stückl shows here”.

The actress would not have expected anything else from the director of the Volkstheater – “one of the best houses in Munich”.

Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) is fascinated by how much the people of Oberammergau stand behind the passion and live the vow that their ancestors made in 1633.

"This shows that cooperation works in our country," says the Vice President of the German Bundestag.

On the way home from her holiday in Carinthia, she stopped in the Ammertal.

"For the first time," she reveals.

After she, like all premiere guests, is completely enthusiastic,

In addition to the staging, the music and the stage design, it is above all the topicality that grabs the audience.

"That has a special effect," says Alexander Dobrindt, chairman of the CSU state group in the German Bundestag.

He is experiencing this "epochal work" for the third time - this time in the context of the catastrophes, the pandemic and the Ukraine war.

Stückl always reacts to what is happening in the world.

He does not allow any standstill "and has thus managed to reform the Passion Play in a way that is fit for the future," emphasizes Harald Kühn (CSU), member of the state parliament.

Actor Ben Becker, who himself has been on stage as Judas, also praises the contemporary approach.

What he sees and hears in Oberammergau is highly topical.

"I am completely overwhelmed.

It's just a pity that we don't learn anything from it."