On 25 March 2023, the nitsch museum in Mistelbach launched its annual exhibition “Hermann Nitsch – The 6-Day Play“. This exhibition, which is organised in cooperation with the Albertina Wien, will focus for the first time since the artist’s death on the centrepiece of the artist’s Gesamtkunstwerk or total work of art.

Hermann Nitsch was one of the founders of Viennese Actionism and one of the most prominent representatives of this art movement. His Opus magnum, the Orgies Mysteries Theatre, is a new form of Gesamtkunstwerk. The artist revolutionised the twentieth century’s concept of theatre with this completely new theatre construct. The 6-Day Play is the centrepiece of Hermann Nitsch’s total art work, the Orgies Mysteries Theatre.

The idea behind it was born in 1957 and led to the realisation of 160 Actions. The artist dedicated his entire life and work to the Orgies Mysteries Theatre, the highlights of which are the two 6-Day Plays performed in 1998 and 2022. All the Actions and works, which he created in different disciplines, ultimately led to the project of the 6-Day Play, and Hermann Nitsch continued working on it until the end of his life. The traditional stage is abandoned in these Actions, real happenings are staged and the audience is actively integrated into the performance as participants. The aim is to address the participants’ senses as intensively and as directly as possible. The flesh of reality becomes tangible. This form of synaesthetic experience should lead the play participants to catharsis.

The idea behind it was born in 1957 and led to the realisation of 160 Actions. The artist dedicated his entire life and work to the Orgies Mysteries Theatre, the highlights of which are the two 6-Day Plays performed in 1998 and 2022. All the Actions and works, which he created in different disciplines, ultimately led to the project of the 6-Day Play, and Hermann Nitsch continued working on it until the end of his life. The traditional stage is abandoned in these Actions, real happenings are staged and the audience is actively integrated into the performance as participants. The aim is to address the participants’ senses as intensively and as directly as possible. The flesh of reality becomes tangible. This form of synaesthetic experience should lead the play participants to catharsis.

In 1998 the 6-Day Play of the Orgies Mysteries Theatre was performed for the first time at Schloss Prinzendorf and sparked considerable protests as well as bomb threats and political resistance. Henceforth Hermann Nitsch worked tirelessly on a second version which he finalised shortly before his death in 2022. In this second version, he placed a particular focus on the music as the leitmotif for the Action. The first two days of the second version of the 6-Day Play were performed post mortem on 30 and 31 July 2022 in Schloss Prinzendorf. The second version will be continued in 2023 and will be accompanied by this museum exhibition.