Craftsmen-Player

Craftsmen-Players

Craftsmen from Oberammergau visited Manhattan and in a short time sold $65,000 of their wares. The craftsmen were Passion Players because in the year 1167 the great emperor Barbarossa founded the play and the people of Oberammergau solemnly vowed to dramatize the "Passion" of Christ once every decade--a promise which was broken only by the Great War. Between plays, these men ply their trades of potters, carvers, painters.

They have just finished their first exhibition in America--in New York, and the success of this will determine the future of the Players. There is no doubt that financially the exhibition was a success--$65,000 being cleared by the Players. People flocked and bought generously in spite of the high prices.

The art of the Players was simple and except in one or two instances singularly uninspired. Anton Lang is a simple old man, and as he stood behind a railing surrounded by crowds while he autographed his photographs, he looked rather bewildered and unhappy.

From Manhattan the Passion Players set out to sell their craftsmanship in other American cities--Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston.