The Revival of the Lucerne Passion Play Tradition in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This paper examines the reception of the Passion play tradition in Lucerne in the twentieth century. The scholar, director and playwright Oskar Eberle (1902-1956) was largely responsible for the revival of the Passion Play tradition in Switzerland. His main efforts were associated with his ambition for a general renewal of the Swiss amateur theatre tradition, especially the tradition of sacred plays of medieval Central Switzerland. This study shows how the socio-cultural and political situation in Switzerland changed during the interwar period and how the production conditions for Eberle’s Passion play efforts in 1949 became more difficult.