Breaking Travel News investigates: Oberammergau Passion Play 2020

The countdown to the Oberammergau Passion Play 2020 begins in earnest today, with the first performance exactly two years away.

More than 2,000 actors, all of whom were born in the tiny German village, will take part in the 42nd staging of the play, to be directed for the fourth time by Christian Stückl.

Rehearsals will start in November next year, lasting eight months.

The five-hour-show, with its three-hour-break, begins in the afternoon with the entry into Jerusalem and tells the passion story from the last supper to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

It ends in the evening with the resurrection.

A total of 103 shows are scheduled in total for 2020; with the last set to take place on October 4th.

Under the leadership of Stückl the play has sought to widen its audience in recent years, expanding from its religious roots to welcome those with an interest in theatre, classical music and performance art.

As Stückl explains: “The play had to change; we were losing the young audience and it was dying.

“It was a mess when I was appointed – a holy mess – and we have worked hard to reconnect with the people of Oberammergau to bring the play back to life.

“Since the Passion Play takes place once every ten years, I keep having to write the text in a new way, tell the story in a new way.

“I’ll include things I learned from the previous play.”

He added the next Passion Play will come in a completely new appearance.

“In a great community effort

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