Theater in the Linzer Nordico: utopias that give courage

Looking to the future with hope and without worries – is that even possible in a time full of crises? Yes, the Theaternyx group is convinced and proves it with their new production “Caring Cities”, which can be seen in Linz’s Nordico City Museum from Thursday.

In four images, Theaternyx shows utopias that inspire courage. “We have the impression that the need for positive images of the future is growing exponentially from year to year,” says Claudia Seigmann, who designed the piece with Markus Zett. The actress also directs and can be heard as the narrator. TV star Miriam Fussenegger, lover of the 2016 Salzburg Festival, can be seen as one of the three performers.

Worldwide examples for Linz

In four groups, the viewers walk to four stations in the rooms of the exhibition “What The Fem*?” are distributed. The starting point was the question of how people can live together with dignity and respect in the future. “We’ve looked around the world for examples where this is already happening,” says Seigmann. Where people already organize their coexistence locally, sustainably and in a relationship-oriented manner. “Then we asked ourselves what would happen if all of this was realized in Linz,” says Claudia Seigmann.

Miriam Fussenegger will take up the topic of a regional currency at her station. “There are such currencies in 300 cities,” says Seigmann. “We tell how that can make a region more economically resilient.” At another station, the focus is on the example of nurses from the Netherlands, who organize their nursing work themselves without much organization. “The advantage is that there are fewer administration costs, the nursing staff are more autonomous and there is more time for the patients,” says Seigmann. At another station there will even be a “take-away utopia”. In addition to Fussenegger, Theresa Martini and Sophie Netzer can be seen.

The Theaternyx group has often worked on the topic of utopias, for example when an audio guide was developed for Linz in 2019 that described fictitious life at selected locations in the year 2050. Later the concept was repeated in other cities. The aim of the current piece is self-empowerment, says Seigmann: “We want to encourage the audience that everyone has the opportunity to actively shape the future.”