Fuerzabruta at the Roundhouse

Hurry, go, see it.

See the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm for a start. Great venue with a long and varied past. As a quote from Tempest says “What is past is prologue” (from the poster on the Level 1 wall).

Fuerzabruta is something else altogether. If not in the Roundhouse, you must, I repeat, you must see it if and when it comes to where you are. That is if you can take the force, yes, the ‘brute force’ which I think the title means in Spanish. I don’t want to give anything away. No, I can’t give anything away anyway…words, however better they are than I can master could give away the show that will startle all your senses all at once.

A man walks, runs
Gets shot, blood.
Picks himself up, continues,
Gets shot again;
Passes by chairs, people, who look but don’t connect,
Rips through doors that explode in confetti, in boxes, in blasts
Runs through a diner amidst furniture in havoc,
Settles on a bed,
Dreams about a water fair up in the sky, kisses her and more,
Then it’s all a blur:
Girls running on walls,
Man and woman hovering on vertical trampolines in their finest,
Bouncing away as they try to get closer, missing, missing.
Parties, confetti, cardboard.
Huge wave out of foil passing over our heads,
Steam, rain, water, water,
At last the water fairies of our dreams,
One, then, two, three, four
The most beautiful bodies, small, delicate feet,
Wet legs, torsos, hair
Coming closer, closer, closer
We touch their faces, ankles, toes, bottoms
They look in bewilderment, my mouth still open
Again, again and again
Then rain, steam, thunder, water, water

A man walks, runs
Rips through a door that explodes two others
Up the stairs, a door beyond which there is nothing but running
Running, running, running…

F said it was about the relentless pace of modern life; ripping through, destroying everything; plastic, artificial, detached, but yearning to return to something that’s fluid, natural, caring, peaceful. I thought it was about life, death, the promised but undeliverable, unknowable beauty of afterlife. I think she is right, though.

Their website says “[Fuerzabruta] does not invent anything; does not have a purpose; it is”. I think they are right, too. They also say it does not repeat itself. So, hopefully, I haven’t spoilt anything. Hurry, go, see it and make up your mind, or just let go and enjoy.

www.fuerzabruta.net/website/fuerza_eng.html