Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal
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| Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V. | |
| Legal form | Registered association (eingetragener Verein) |
|---|---|
| Member of | Verband Bayerischer Amateurtheater |
| Location | |
| Headquarters | Waal |
| Country | Germany |
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| |
| Links | |
| Website | passion-waal.de |
The Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V. is an amateur theatre association in the market town of Waal in the district of Ostallgäu, Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It stages the Waal Passion play, one of the oldest in Bavarian Swabia, together with plays about saints and other religious and secular folk plays, in its own Passion play house built in 1960–61; all the performers are local amateurs.[1][2]
History
The Waal Passion tradition is traced to the plague years of the 17th century and to the veneration of a relic of the True Cross kept in the parish church of St. Anna since 1626; a Holy Cross confraternity founded in 1655 is regarded as the original organiser of the plays.[2][1] When Passion plays were banned in Bavaria in 1770, those of Oberammergau and Waal were exempted, according to German Wikipedia; the oldest surviving text of the Waal play dates from 1791.[1]
Until 1813 plays were performed in the open air. In winter 1813 the lord of the manor, Count Kasimir Schenk von Castell, bought a theatre building in Marktoberdorf, which local farmers brought to Waal on sledges and set up in the castle garden. In 1826 it was handed over to a newly founded theatre society on condition that it staged two plays a year, and re-erected next to the Einsiedel chapel.[3] The first Passion play of the modern era, in 1815, needed special permission because Waal had become part of Bavaria in 1805; it lasted seven hours and drew 30,000 visitors.[2] The 1894 Passion was attended by 12,000 visitors, among them Sebastian Kneipp and the Waal-born painter Hubert von Herkomer, whose father had played Judas in 1849. The theatre burned down on the night of 13–14 February 1885; the municipality rebuilt it with 800 seats, and it reopened on 19 June 1887. The 1914 Passion had to be broken off when the First World War broke out.[2][3]
After the Second World War Otto Kobel, director and performer of Christ, led the first post-war Passion in 1949; he remained artistic director for almost 50 years.[2][1] In 1956, after the last Passion in the old theatre, the Theaterverein Waal e. V. renamed itself Passionsspielgemeinschaft e. V. Waal and decided to stage only religious plays, above all the Passion.[2] The association then built a new Passion play house; the foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1960, and the building, still unfinished, opened with the Passion on 7 May 1961, which drew more than 50,000 visitors.[3][2] In 1969 the house passed to the parish church foundation of St. Anna, a condition set by the diocesan finance office of Augsburg for taking over the association's debts.[3] Florian Martin Werner has been artistic director since 2014; the jubilee Passion of 2023, Für wen haltet ihr mich?, was written and directed by Manfred Dempf.[1] The next Passion is planned for 2031, the year after the Oberammergau Passion, and Don Camillo und Peppone is planned for 2027.[4][5]
Repertoire
Besides the Passion, which has been staged at irregular intervals of roughly twelve years in recent decades, the association performs plays about saints such as Francis of Assisi, Paul and Ulrich of Augsburg, some written for the Waal stage, as well as literary and historical folk plays. With up to 200 performers of all ages, the plays last three to four hours. According to German Wikipedia, more than 150 plays had been performed in 116 seasons since 1791, 22 of them Passion seasons.[1] Since the 2010s it has also staged other plays between the Passion years, and it runs a youth theatre led by a theatre educator.[6][7]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1815 | Passion | First modern Passion play; 30,000 visitors |
| 1828 | Passion | 22,000 visitors |
| 1849 | Kleine Passion | Version shortened by one hour |
| 1875 | Kleine Passion | |
| 1883 | Kleine Passion | |
| 1887 | Das Vaterunser in der Christnacht | Opening of the rebuilt theatre, 19 June 1887[3] |
| 1894 | Passion | Text by Weis, Daisenberger and Rödel; 12,000 visitors |
| 1904 | Passion | 16,000 visitors |
| 1914 | Passion | Broken off at the outbreak of the First World War |
| 1921 | Passion | Directed by Sebastian Wieser |
| 1924 | Paradies und Brudermord | |
| 1926 | Waaler Kreuzspiel | 300th anniversary of the relic |
| 1928 | Passion | |
| 1931–1932 | Marienspiel | |
| 1938 | Passion | |
| 1949 | Passion | Directed by Otto Kobel |
| 1951 | Muttergottesspiel | |
| 1956 | Passion | Last Passion in the old theatre |
| 1961 | Passion | Opening of the new Passion play house; over 50,000 visitors |
| 1962–1963 | Marienspiel | |
| 1969–1970 | Passion | New text by Alois Sailer; directed by Fritz Hummel |
| 1976–1977 | Waaler Bauernpassion | Directed by Otto Kobel[1] |
| 1979 | Franziskusspiel | Text by Paul Schmidkonz[1] |
| 1982 | Franziskusspiel | |
| 1985 | Paulusspiel | |
| 1989 | Passion | |
| 1992 | Passion | After the 1791 text, adapted by Arthur Maximilian Miller; six Lenten performances |
| 1993 | Hedwig | |
| 1993 | Ulrichspiel | Text by Matthias Pöschl[1] |
| 1997 | Franziskusspiel | |
| 2001 | Die Waaler Passion | 34 performances, 21,000 visitors |
| 2005 | Becket oder Die Ehre Gottes | After Jean Anouilh's Becket; directed by Peter Pius Irl[1] |
| 2009 | Schwäbische Passion | Directed by Florian Martin Werner |
| 2012 | Franziskusspiel | |
| 2014 | Besuch vor Weihnachten | |
| 2015 | Schwäbische Passion | |
| 2017 | Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern | After The Little Match Girl |
| 2018 | Brandner Kaspar | |
| 2023 | Für wen haltet ihr mich? | Jubilee Passion by Manfred Dempf |
| 2024 | Die Nacht bei den Hirten | |
| 2025 | Noahs Arche |
Venue
The Passion play house on Theaterstraße in Waal, an eleven-metre-high reinforced concrete building with a large glass front, was built in 1960–61.[3] In 1976 its auditorium was reduced by 250 to 750 seats to make room for a foyer with bar and cloakroom, and heating was installed;[2] according to German Wikipedia, it was reduced again in 2000 to 575 seats, has two cafés and an orchestra pit, and its stage has a cyclorama, mobile set elements and colour projections.[1] A cross for returned soldiers, dedicated in 1964 on the west front, was restored in 2021, and the roof was renewed in 2026.[3]
Organisation
The cast is chosen from the association's members by its board.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Passions- und Heiligenspiele in Waal, German Wikipedia, retrieved 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Passionshistorie, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 17 June 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Theaterchronik, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Passion 2031, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 17 June 2026.
- ↑ Don Camillo und Peppone, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 17 June 2026.
- ↑ Startseite, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 17 June 2026.
- ↑ Nachwuchstheater, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Waal e. V., retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 17 June 2026.