Almost two weeks ago, the Oberammergau Passion Play came to an end, they are considered the measure of all things in this genre. Nevertheless: The passion year 2022 is far from over, especially not in the Upper Palatinate. This Friday, the premiere of the local passion play will take place in the town of Tirschenreuth, which does not have a nearly 400-year tradition as in Oberammergau, but stands out in its own way in the cultural scene. The game had its world premiere in 1997 and has been repeated every five years since 2000. The Tirschenreuther Passion is now celebrating its 25th anniversary.
“We wanted to play the play in 2020, but Corona thwarted our plans 14 days before the premiere,” says Mayor Franz Stahl. At that time there was a great disappointment. The fact that the game has now been postponed to autumn because of Corona has put some players under a lot of pressure. “I had to come to terms with that first. But I can also combine it quite well with All Saints’ Day,” said the actor Christiane Trenner in an interview.
The subject of passion is widely diversified in the Upper Palatinate. Not only that the baroque period produced many passion places that later disappeared. The town of Konnersreuth, which belongs to the district of Tirschenreuth, also plays an idiosyncratic role in this regard. He became famous through the mystic Therese Neumann, who died 60 years ago and is still shrouded in mystery today. Every Friday, it is said, she is said to have experienced the passion of Jesus in a trance.
The Passion in Tirschenreuth is presented confidently in the dialect of the Upper Palatinate. Mary’s lament reads in this idiom: “My Bou is dead, my child is gone. Your mother, Jesus, is good now, we have it in the Stoll af d’Welt broucht.” The ensemble consists of around a hundred participants, most of whom are amateur actors.
The city has invested heavily in the Kettelerhaus in which the play is performed. The stage setting was redesigned, new costumes were tailored and a new light and sound system was used for the first time. Thanks to a special spatial planning, the sometimes whimsical events are even closer to the audience than before. The former apostle actor Anton Beer last recalled in the newspaper The New Day laughing at the legendary ear which, according to the Bible, should be cut off a mercenary. “One of us had a pig’s ear with us. We threw it on the floor during a rehearsal scene. Almost half of us thought it was the performer’s real ear.”
Jesus before Herod. Director Johannes Reitmeier was very careful to preserve the soul of the play in the new production.
(Photo: Norbert Grüner)
The passion is staged by the directors Johannes Reitmeier, artistic director of the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, and Stefan Tilch, artistic director of the Landestheater Niederbayern. Reitmeier had already designed the first passion in March 1997. He says that the Tirschenreuther Passion is characterized by the dialect and a unique narrative structure – even on a European scale. “That’s why it was important to me to keep the soul of the play in the new production.” “The New Tirschenreuther Passion 2022” sheds light on the historical events from a contemporary point of view, especially with regard to the figure of Judas and the traditional role of women around Jesus.
A 30-minute introduction is offered 45 minutes before the start of each performance. The visitors will learn a lot more about the connection between the passion and the centuries-old tradition of the Tirschenreuth pilgrimage from 1692 – and what new accents the director is setting in the current performance.
Some premiere tickets are still online www.okticket.de or directly from the Tourist Information Tirschenreuth (Tel. 09631/600248 or 600249, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.). Other dates: October 23, 28, 29 and 30 and November 1, 4 and 5. Email: [email protected].