The Theatre: Black Hills Passion Play

The famed Passion Play of Oberammergau, Germany, is apparently acceptable to Adolf Hitler, but has been postponed this year on account of the war. Considered the most important of the Passion Plays, it was first produced in 1634. But in 1932 a troupe of Passion Players emigrated to the U. S. from Lünen, Germany, where they claimed their play had been given ever since 1242. One of them was Josef Meier, seventh-generation Passion Player. He had their drama translated into “American.” with a reorganized troupe began acting it in various U. S. towns, and looking for a permanent home to replace Lünen.

A few years ago an automobile finance man named Guy Bett from Spearfish, S. D. saw Meier’s players in Sioux Falls, S. D. He got to know Meier, persuaded him to settle in Spearfish. It was a small, attractive place, high in the Black Hills. It was on the Black Hills tourist route, which promised sizable audiences. Most important, the zealous Mr. Bett persuaded fellow townsmen to spend $28,000 for an open-air amphitheatre (to seat 7,000), with masses of evergreens and towering Lookout Mountain as a backdrop.

There, during the past few summers, the Passion Play has been performed twice a week in clear, still air free from mosquitoes. The permanent cast of 23 has been swelled, for mob scenes, by local Protestants, Catholics, Jews. Audiences have included thousands of tourists, Wyoming cowboys, Dakota farmers.

Last week the Black Hills Players were on their first extended tour (by automobile) of big U. S. cities, as far afield as New Orleans. Into the Minneapolis Municipal Auditorium they drew audiences of 4-5,000. Josef Meier, as usual, played the Christus. His wife, a former Chicago girl, Clare Hume, was a handsome Mary. Their two-year-old daughter Johanna, who had the sniffles at one performance, was the infant Jesus. No applause was permitted during the play, while Meier was realistically crucified with trick nails, while he was resurrected in white satin. Nor was there any applause for a solemn moment after the final curtain. Then it was loud and long, while many people swarmed backstage to stare at Meier. This solid urban success of the Black Hills Players made it appear that in Spearfish, S. D., the U. S. may have acquired its own Oberammergau.