Oberammergau's proud devotion

We watch as part of a 4,000-strong audience as amateur but skilled and dedicated actors portray the Last Supper. We are under a roof but they perform on a stage revealed to the open air and in front of the Bavarian Alps. Beauty unbound.

Night is wrapping the town of Oberammergau like some comforting childhood blanket and, as daylight fades, a storm moves across the sky. It’s breathtakingly fast and begins to cover the entire background of the stage and as a consequence colours the play — dark ink squirted over a screen.

The breaths and whispers of the crowd are now audible as they sense what is either a glorious coincidence or a downright miracle. Jesus Christ tells His followers of what is to come as He breaks the bread and simultaneously, at the 2010 Passion Play, a storm smashes its way into the town and suddenly hailstones the size of golf balls cascade down from the heavens.

The Oberammergau Passion Play has been performed usually every 10 years since the early 17th century and is hardly ever stopped due to bad weather. Now, though, the small fists of ice are damaging the sound equipment and endangering the cast. The actors retreat under what shelter is possible and try to continue. It’s impossible. The director runs onto the stage and in German and broken English tells us with laughter that of course the play will go on but that the intermission will be, well, just a little early. The response is a standing ovation and a style and volume of applause seldom heard on Broadway or in London’s west end.

It all started when the citizens of this small Bavarian town promised God that if they were spared the plague they would recreate the passion of Christ every decade. A war here and there has prevented a performance but otherwise it’s been pretty well constant for almost 400 years. All of the actors have to be born in the town or to have lived there for 20 years and the play itself lasts for more than five hours. It has become a place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage but also attracts other Christians and people with no particular faith. On our tour there were all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs.

Did the play stop the plague? Hard to say. The town escaped it. Then again it could be because they posted guards at the passes so that no infected person could enter. It’s not actually relevant. What does matter is that this place is soaked in prayer.

Tens of millions have come here over the years to listen to the words of Scripture and pray to the God who gave them to us. Of course there is a commercial aspect to it all but far less than in most places where tourists gather. The great tradition of wood-carving and the genuine local commitment to Catholicism has meant that many of the statues, souvenirs and memorabilia are far less dowdy than elsewhere.

Cynics will never understand Oberammergau. Sacrifice and authentic devotion are embarrassing to modern sensibilities. so when faced with them we tend to mock. I didn’t find any base motives amongst the people involved with the play. They’re hardly paid anything other than basic compensation for time lost from work. The level of directing, acting, singing and instrumentation is extraordinarily high. The play is long, very long — hey, it’s in German and performed by Germans!

More than this, a great deal of time is taken to show the Jewish context of the story and the internal disputes within the Jewish community around who Jesus was and how He should be regarded. Essential and admirable in that this is, as we’ve said, Germany and a mere 65 years ago very different things were happening here.

But to employ a terribly over-used and misunderstood word, Oberammergau is unique. Wonderful, startling, life-changing and unique. The storm eventually cleared and disappeared. The play and its message is as strong as ever and remains with everyone who was there that magnificent night and who has attended at any time over the years.

Passion. In every sense. Passion.