Oberammergau: The Troubling Story of the World's Most Famous Passion Play by Shapiro, James

New York. 2000. Pantheon Books. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0375409262. 238 pages. hardcover. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Nearly every decade since 1634, in fulfillment of a legendary seventeenth-century vow, citizens of the Bavarian village of Oberammergau have reenacted the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Oberammergau's Passion play has been widely praised for what the Victorian writer Richard Burton called its miraculous ability to provide pleasure to skeptic and believer alike. But there is a darker side. Hitler attended the 1930 and 1934 productions and admired them for their convincing portrayals of the menace of Jewry, and in 1970 a group of international luminaries that included Arthur Miller, Leonard Bernstein, and Gunter Grass supported a boycott of the play because of its anti-Semitism. As the production for the year 2000 drew near, James Shapiro was there to document the newest wave of obstacles facing the Bavarian villagers determined to stage another season of already sold-out performances. Oberammergau is a remarkable book of improbable plots and impossible subplots. Shapiro has thoroughly researched every aspect of this uniquely historical and controversial play and has emerged with an important look at the unpredictable and sometimes tragic relationship between art and society, belief and tolerance, religion and politics. inventory #28460 ISBN: 0375409262.