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[title]It is early June and I am in Mexico City attempting to operate a gigantic semi-inflatable whale that is suspended from the ceiling of the city’s Fronton Mexico theatre. It is, to put it mildly, fucking terrifying.
This is the titanic centrepiece of Aven, the spectacular second show proper from renowned Argentine company Fuerza Bruta, and obviously I have not been trusted to control the whale in front of the hundreds of punters who’ve paid to see the show that evening. But earlier in the day an altogether more clued-up performer shows me how to ‘operate’ the life-sized cetacean: we scramble about on a rig inside, pitching it from side to side as we swoop over the company, who seem very amused by the whole thing.
‘Who or what is Fuerza Bruta?’ would be a reasonable question for a young Londoner to ask, as it’s been 11 years since their self-titled previous show was last seen here. And that’s a little sad, as in their own Argentinian way they are absolutely a London institution.
Founded by Buenos Aires theatre maker Diqui James, Fuerza Bruta is the successor company to his previous outfit De La Guarda. Each of them has played more shows at Camden’s iconic Roundhouse than any other artist in history (in fact it’s not even close). De La Guarda’s sole show ‘Villa Villa’ did a year here at the turn of the millennium, the last show to play the Roundhouse before it shut for a major refurb. Fuerza Bruta’s self-titled first show (now renamed ‘Wayra’) reopened in 2006 and came back in 2013. They are the house entertainers.
Indeed, London is where James realised he hadn’t made a terrible mistake in creating a pulse-pounding, stunt and setpiece-packed show with no discernible plot that demanded the audience actually dance.
It was 1997, and De La Guarda were touring a sceptical America when word reached him the show was on the cover of Time Out magazine in London, for an issue previewing that year’s London International Festival of Theatre (aka LIFT).
‘It said “Catch the LIFT: Probably the Best Theatre in the World”,’ recalls a proud James.
‘In Buenos Aires we were struggling,’ he says. ‘People enjoyed the show but the media were talking shit about us – saying it wasn’t really theatre – and it was a hard time for us economically to keep the show running. Then we went to London and we were shocked by the reaction: it was amazing. The reviews were amazing. Suddenly we started to feel proud of what we were doing. By the second show they were asking if we could stay for longer’.
They couldn’t – they were on tour – but producer Adam Kenwright caught the show and was instantly smitten with it. He took James to see the Roundhouse – and a match in heaven was made.
we went to London and we were shocked by the reaction: it was amazing
From there, a beautiful relationship between company and city and venue was formed. But relationships need to be maintained and it’s been over a decade since Fuerza Bruta was last in town.
In the years since, James and his core collaborators have been busy with everything from a free outdoor show staged in a Buenos Aires park to one specially made for Japan. But now it’s finally time for something for the rest of the world.
Fuerza Bruta’s second touring show ‘Aven’ is quite a departure from the ruggedly macho stylings of its predecessor, the most iconic sequence of which features a man in a suit running through walls and failing to be stopped by bullets. In fact ‘Aven’ has a very specific remit.
‘I wanted to make the happiest show on Earth!’ smiles James, as if that was a normal ambition. ‘It’s a happy show, a crazy show, to get rid of the dark part of the world. We used to work with tension. Now I just want to show people how beautiful the world can be. I think for a lot of young people it is quite a difficult time now. But if they come to our show they will feel better for sure’.
If that sounds potentially cheesy, worry not – ‘Aven’ is less happy-clappy than euphoric, a series of setpieces that push the same endorphin buttons as a big night on the floor.
If ‘Villa Villa’ and ‘Wayra’ were about a sort of macho urban grit, ‘Aven’ is influenced by nature. ‘I used to find beauty in cities, in tall buildings,’ says James. ‘Now I see it in nature, and for this show I wanted to create a sort of artificial nature’.
As I’ve already spoilered the fact there’s a massive whale in it, let’s talk about the whale.
When James said he wanted to create a life-size mechanical whale, his collaborators were understandably sceptical. ‘They said you know a whale doesn’t fit in any room,’ recalls James. ‘I said that’s right. They tried to convince me to do it smaller. But I said no, a whale has to be huge, you know, crushing the walls.’ The compromise is that the whale inflates: it could never enter the room, but so long as the show is performed in a room an actual whale could just about fit into, it works spectacularly. And the Roundhouse is a particularly big space – no spoilers, but James outlines an addition to the stunt just for us that should make it even more exhilaratingly OTT.
Will lightning strike a third time when ‘Aven’ follows ‘Villa Villa’ and ‘Fuerza Bruta’ into the Roundhouse? On paper it’s a slightly tall order: James is a Gen X theatremaker, whose shows are now predicated on getting people decades younger than him dancing. And yet in Mexico City that’s exactly what he does – if Fuerza Bruta’s return home to the Roundhouse is half as joyful as this it’ll be the happiest night in London, at the very least.
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