Who Says That Theatre Is Only For People Who Read?

I stand with my friends in a dimly lit open space as a man in a suit appears on stage, running as fast as he can on a treadmill. Soon he is running through people, through furniture, through walls. There are no barriers (to human emotion?)

Welcome to "Fuerzabruta," meaning "brute force", the new interactive masterpiece from the Argentinian group behind the popular, long-running De La Guarda show. There is no clear narrative, but a few recurring themes if you look closely (or Google endlessly). For the most part, I saw the show as an examination of the dramatic dance between tension and release.

The treadmill guy would later run up to me and break a prop over my head, which exploded into hundreds of tiny pieces, scattering all over the people next to me who were being showered with water by the DJ. This is all part of it; you're supposed to touch the actors - and the props - and enjoy the experience with everyone standing next to you. Everything about Fuerzabruta is meant to be enjoyed with all the senses. The various scenes seem to have nothing in common; the actors are in the air, on the ground, and underwater, but always reaching, always wanting, continuously trying to get to something they cannot have.

At one point, an actual pool of water is lifted down over the crowd as beautiful, barely dressed women glide over your head, teasing and playfully menacing the crowd. We stand there on our toes, awe-struck and childlike, and as we reach up to graze them with our fingers, we know exactly how the dude on the treadmill feels.

That is the immensity of Fuerzabruta; there is no real narrative, but a crazy Friday night filled with aerial acrobatics, dance, theatre, and rave. At the end, if you wish, you can get absolutely soaking wet, while pink, purple, red, green and blue strobe lights spin all around you, and the actors join the audience for their final curtain. The entire experience is so primitive- at times focusing entirely on the body's reaction to what is happening on stage- such a great alternative from a "regular" night at the theatre. It is this celebration of carnal beauty that makes this show unique, to say the least; exhilarating is more like it.

Fuerzabruta plays at the Daryl Roth Theatre on Union Square, get tickets for half price before the promotion ends on April 20th (420!)

http://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/fuerzabruta_nyc_tickets.aspx