Tribune Linz

A short story about the sex business in Linz

Motif image for the play "Sex in Linz"

(Bild: Verena Andrea Prenner)

"Sex in Linz - a real-life satire with heart, humor and depth" premieres on Saturday, November 16 at the Tribüne in Linz. The well-known theater-making duo Bettina Buchholz and Johannes Neuhauser take a look behind the scenes of the sex business. In the "Krone" talk, they also give tips on what a fulfilling love life can look like.

The Tribüne Linz is the perfect place for a play about sex work. After all, it wasn't a theater in the past, but the Eisenhand porn cinema.

And the play "Sex in Linz" is also based on the history of the location: "We start in the 1970s, when the so-called 'sex wave' also started in Linz. We end in the present day with the numerous brothels and the so-called 'doll rooms' full of sex dolls," says author and director Johannes Neuhauser, giving an initial insight into his new play.

A hard-hitting balance sheet
The play is once again conceived as a stage solo for Bettina Buchholz, a former audience favorite at the Landestheater. She says: "The nightmare of every actress is to become unemployed and end up as a 'cleaning lady'. I'm now fulfilling this 'dream' on stage, so to speak."

She plays facility manager Tina, who most recently had to clean the so-called 'love orifices' of the sex dolls in the Laufhaus and is now retiring. That's why she also takes stock, literarily, via video and with completely new texts.

Theater makers Bettina Buchholz and Johannes Neuhauser

(Bild: Einöder Horst/Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

True reports flow in
"In the run-up to the role, I completed an internship lasting several weeks at Caritas LENA - a specialist advice center for people involved in sex work. I was most moved by the personal conversations I was able to have with sex workers there," says Buchholz about the creation of the text.

Real-life satire hits the nail on the head
And Neuhauser adds: "Many facets of the sex business have unintentionally satirical traits, and we give space to that too. For example, a cleaner from the legendary Eisenhand porn cinema told me that she could tell from the used handkerchiefs lying on the floor whether the film would be extended."

The play by the duo, which won recognition as the cultural association Etty at the Upper Austrian Stage Art Prize, is also intended to encourage people to take a look at their own sex lives.

Neuhauser: "Even in everyday life, stay in conversation with each other, listen to each other and embrace each other. In a lively couple's relationship, sex can be a beautiful, pleasurable and satisfying form of communication."

Buchholz: "My husband and I just celebrated our 20th 'first time' in October. For me, the secret to a loving relationship is humor and good sex, and that both of us don't take ourselves too seriously."

The premiere of "Sex in Linz - a real-life satire with heart, humor and depth" will take place at the Tribüne Linz on Saturday, November 16, at 7.30 pm.