UniT (AT)
ZOÉ - An Immersive Science Fiction Poem in the Post-Anthropocene

An Immersive Science Fiction Poem in the Post-Anthropocene

What does it mean to be alive in a world where humans, machines, and nature communicate? When the boundaries between the species dissolve? What happens when the planet becomes a storyteller - when stones speak, landscapes breathe, and bodies and algorithms intertwine in a strange dance? What are we capable of becoming?

In a unique fusion of science fiction poetry, electronic music, and an immersive, responsive scenography, the music performance ZOE creates a landscape where human and non-human life forms, technology, and nature are inextricably intertwined. Non-linear, multi-sensory storytelling, woven from body, voice, sound, and space invites us to reconsider what "life" can mean in a speculative future beyond the Anthropocene. ZOE is a living, vibrating, polyphonic narrative about the continuous becoming of the Earth - of plants, animals, machines, and always, of us humans.

In ZOE, you are not a distant observer; you become part of the scenery. You encounter ZOE, a responsive ecosystem and ephemeral landscape that exists between reality and (science) fiction. In this shifting terrain, you may come across stones that feel like bodies - and when you press your ear to them, they speak to you. Non-human creatures engage with you in an unprecedented intimacy. Hybrids of human, machine, and animal appear, spinning the carousel - spiraling slowly from the future into the here and now.

ZOE is created by an interdisciplinary team of artists. Austrian scenographer and director Lisa Horvath, known for her immersive scenographies and performative installations that explore ecological and technological themes, leads the project alongside co-director Victoria Fux, who will contribute to shaping the performative elements of the evening. A key element of ZOE is its atmospheric, multi-channel music and sound design, crafted by composer and musician Sara Trawöger aka. ABRUPT, whose expertise in electronic soundscapes will shape the project’s sonic landscape. Collaborating with performer and vocalist Kristin Gerwien, Trawöger will develop the music and songs for the evening, when the hybrid beings of ZOE will come to life through the performances of Gerwien and dancer-performer Maja Karolina Franke.

Het nieuwstedelijk is part of “Future Narratives for Planet Earth” — a European network of theatre houses collaborating to develop new stories about the relationship between humans and nature. The project’s main goal is to reimagine the future as a space full of possibilities. Within “Future Narratives,” seven new theatre productions are being created, which will be presented in Leuven at Shakespeare is dead.