The Oberammergau Play.

given . In fact , it now appears that Mr . Robertson has been placed , either through deception or mistake , in the position of having announced a performance from which not only the part of Hamlet , so to speak , but that of all the other actors would perforce be omitted . The Burgomaster of Oberammergau has telegraphed to us to say that the whole affair is an imposture . No native of Oberammergau , he says , in effect , has undertaken to come to London , and none has any intention of coming . This is highly creditable to them , supposing them to have been tempted ; if they now hear of the matter for the first time , we trust it will not suggest any desires inconsistent with their old traditions . "

It may , however , he well to remember that miracle plays , or " religious shows , " formed part of the amusement and improvement of our English people in mediawal times . It is , for instance , interesting to learn that there is still in existence a rude amphitheatre in the parish of St . Just , near the Land's End , Cornwall , in which sacred plays , some of a Scriptural and others of a legendary character , were performed in the days before the Reformation , a practice still traditionally remembered by some of the people .

Mr . Norris writes thus in his " History of the Ancient Cornish Drama " : — " The bare granite plain of St . Just , in view of Cape Cornwall and of the transparent sea which beats upon the magnificent headlands , would be a magnificent theatre for the exhibition of what in those days would appear to be a serious representation of the general history of the Creation , the Fall , and the Redemption of Man , however it might , be marred occasionally by passages of a light , and even of a ludicrous , character . The mighty

gathering of the people from many miles round , hardly showing like a crowd in that extended region , where nothing grows up to limit the view on any side , with their booths and tents , so absolutely necessary when so many people had to remain for three days upon the spot , would give to the assembly a character probably more like what we hear of in the so-called religious revivals in America than attiring witnessed in more sober Europe . " It may be remembered , also , that at the Congress of the British Archseological Association held at Bodmin and Penzance in 1856 , the Rev . Mr . Lach Szyrina stated that there had recently been brought to light a copy of a miracle play actually

performed in Cornwall in former times , the " Life of St . Meriasck , " —comprising the legend of the conversion of Constantino , the legend of the Mother and the Son , and the legendary life of the Saint himself , —one of great local interest , as some of the scenes were laid- about Camborne and Truro . Not much , according to Mr . Lach Szyrina , is known as to the way in which these plays were represented , though some of the " stage directions " are extant . They were , doubtless , performed in the open air ; but there could hardlhave been much scenerythough there were " stage directions" as to tents

y , , houses , etc . At the beginning of the play of the " Creation , " fof instance , there was » direction to the effect that Hell , when spoken of , should gape wide , from which it may be inferred that the infernal regions were represented by the mouth of an infernal monster , just as shown in old pictures and on old painted windows in Gothic churches . " As at Oberammergau , " adds Mr . Each Szyrma , " the background of hills and rocks might have been , and probably were , utilized in order to give grandeur and effect to the

mysteries represented . " It may be added that Borlase , the Cornish antiquary , writing a litttle more than a century ago ( namely , in 1762 ) , describes the amphitheatre at St . Just as an exact circle , 136 ft . in diameter , ihe hank being 7 ft . * high on the inside and 10 ft . on the outside ; and the seats as still traceable , the latter consisting of six series or stages , each Gin . in width , while the rampart at the top was several feet wide . The amphitheatre at St . Just still exists , though the fact that horses and cattle and sheep are allowed to graze upon it , and that it serves also , like a village green , as a playground for children , has lowered its raised stages and " ramparts , " and nearly levelled the old stage with the road which skirts it .

And though we shall all deprecate the introduction of the Oberammergau Play m a theatre , we are not prepared to condemn absolutely all attempts to revive the " miracle plays " of older days . It may be a question , however , whether this more polished and educated epoch can abide the untutored simplicity and absolute realism of a less advanced and cultivated age .