6-DAY-PLAY
2nd version (160. action)
Performance of the 3rd day “Day of Dionysus”.
Pentecost Sunday, 28 May 2023
Schloss Prinzendorf and surroundings
Prinzendorf on the Zaya, Austria
Rita Nitsch welcomes to Schloss Prinzendorf on Pentecost Sunday, 28 May 2023 for the realization of the 3rd day “Day of Dionysus” of the 6-day-play.
Hermann Nitsch’s idea for a six-day and six-night action work dates back to 1957. Influenced by the Gesamtkunstwerk efforts of Richard Wagner and Alexander Scriabin, Hermann Nitsch who at that time worked intensively with the medium of literature, conceived his synaesthetically oriented action theatre, exhilarating all five senses: The Orgies Mysteries Theater.
The length is analogous to the history of creation and is understood as an extension of all monumental works of art. All actions of the Orgies Mysteries Theater performed since then, i.e. since the early sixties, must be understood as partial realizations of the 6-day-play.
The Orgies Mysteries Theater is an artistic endeavour. In addition to the visual idea of form, music plays an essential role. The basic concept of the play is based on a symphonic idea. The scene of the action is the castle in Prinzendorf with all its rooms and the surrounding landscape of the Lower Austrian Weinviertel.
The first two days of the second version of the six-day play were performed in July 2022, fulfilling Hermann Nitsch’s last wish. Over 60 actors, two orchestras with more than 100 musicians, and Rita Nitsch, with the support of Andrea Cusumano, musical direction, and the action directors Leonhard Kopp, Frank Gassner, and Josef Smutny, were involved in making it happen.
3rd day
THE DAY OF DIONYSUS
SCHERZO
OBLIGATORY EXCESS
the third day addresses the myth of the god dionysus, the archetype of dionysus and the phrase DIONYSUS AGAINST THE CRUCIFIED. the demythologized phenomenon of the dionysian is recognized as an issue related to the dynamics of life. dionysus is the god, the principle of ecstatic becoming but also the principle of destruction. shiva and vishnu all in one. dionysus is the god of the world’s ruin and rebirth, the resurrection of flesh. he is the crucified, torn and resurrected. the ruins and rebirths of worlds pulsate through his flesh. the never-ending, recurring big bang has its source in the vitality of his body. all suppressed unlived life should be turned outward. we want to invoke the abysses of the nature found in us, that determine us, by awakening in excess.
intoxicating and uninhibited joy. participants are asked to drink. everywhere they drink profusely and excessively. the music of the wine taverns is played at all locations. mass intoxication is obligatory, a general drunkenness on the part of the participants is prescribed. in the vineyards and cellars, participants drink immoderately all day and night.
procession off to the press house and the surrounding area are always possible
there is music in the fields. sound walls. as the sound intensifies, it makes its way from the fields to the castle courtyard.
sunrise music
the sun rises
a bavarian folk dance (schuhplattler) is paraphrased.
the slaughtered bull is driven to the courtyard and mounted on the southern wall
disembowelment of a bull
crucifixion actions
ecstatic stomping on GRAPES, FRUITS, TOMATOES, MEAT and ENTRAILS. stomping on the BODIES OF SLAUGHTERED ANIMALS FILLED WITH ENTRAILS, BLOOD AND WINE
the 1st finale (in the afternoon) with the extreme noise of the orchestra.
the participants drink more and more excessively
orgasm
agonylustmotif
dismemberment of dionysus
sadomasochistic primal excess
the bull and a man on a cross are being transported by many actors to the wine cellars of eselsstadt. they are followed by music. all the participants also go to eselsstadt. they sit on benches at tables in the meadows outside the wine cellars. excessive drinking, boozing, that reaches a peak. all the participants are drunk. the music of the wine taverns. the ecstatic, loudly roaring music of all the orchestras grows more and more intense.
the sun sets
grows more and more intense. bavarian folk dance and a procession of torches back to the castle
2nd finale (in the evening)
arriving at the castle the bull is taken from the stretcher and laid out in the middle of the courtyard. it is stuffed full with entrails, grapes and tomatoes. blood and hot water, mucous and milk are poured over everything. a tussle, a rugby situation is started. participants and almost all the actors carry burning torches. brightest spotlights are projected on the scene.
dionysus
killing of the totem animal
orgasm
agonylustmotif
dismemberment of dionysus
sadomasochist primal excess
gazing at the starlit sky
further links:
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*Hermann Nitsch wrote in the program booklet of the 6-day play: “the 6-day play is my main work. participation on six days is actually unavoidably necessary, corresponds to the dramaturgical concept. the author strongly recommends celebrating all six days. the three-day and one-day offers correspond to a less-than-ideal solution.” (Note: due to the Corona pandemic, only the 1st and 2nd day were realized in 2022.)