¡Teatro Extraño!

This post is 90% theatre review, 10% about me.

Okay so tonight I went and saw legit "weird" theatre. As in no narrative, very little text, mix of circus/magic show/acrobatics/dance. I was hoooome. The show was called Crece, and based on what I read has had three previous permutations. It was great. The best way I can describe it, which will mostly only make sense to the PHTS kids reading this, is that it was like a Witness Relocation show if they used a dozen teenagers instead of Will Petre and Laura. So much form and content action. You Can Get An Idea Here.

So for the rest of you, I'll try my best to put almost no words into words. The themes that I saw were about bodies in space, the fluidity of motion and human relationships. (Colleen - it wasn't really about gender!) There was some trapeze, a little tight rope, a lot of impressive jumping and flips and Cirque du Soleil type acrobatics.

I was never bored, but I did get pulled out of the performance a lot by the audience clapping, so I spent a lot of time thinking about design elements and everything I was seeing and hearing in front of me. The lighting was trying to be interesting, there were some cool instruments used, including some free-standing strip lights, fluorescents, and a huge hanging flood light, but I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities and most of the lighting was really simple and not ideal to show off what the performers were doing. I think I also only noticed about two moments when it made me feel something, and generally lights always make me feel something. I spent a lot of time focusing on the sound because it was really aggressive, loud and ominous and strong and angry. Sometimes it felt like the sound was embodying the strength of the performers, but it felt too heavy for the space, especially because all the performers were so young and joyous. I didn't think about costumes a lot, because it all seemed to be mundane clothing from their closets, but I liked that it didn't detract from what they were physically doing.

The theatre is in the round, with maybe 10-20% of the circle cut out to make a bigger backdrop so that there is sort of a "front" of the circle. And it's also only a 15-minute walk from my house! AND I got my ticket for half-price because NYU gave us this "Madrid Cultura y Arte" card that gets us discounts at lots of things. In fact their newsletter is how I found out about this show and why I decided to go tonight. I got seated next to a family with three little kids who were really cute and fun to listen to. Sometimes they laughed for no reason, and at one point I heard the little boy ask his grandma who was sitting next to me if she was scared. My row was fun people.

This theatre will be housing Fuerza Bruta soon. I think I might go, because it will feel like home, and I also want to see how it will be different here. I don't think they can get rid of the seats in the theatre, so it could be a very strange experience if we're sitting through the whole show. (I work at Fuerza Bruta in New York so I've seen the show countless times.) This is Fuerza: (Brute Force/Strength). You can get a pretty good idea of the show just by watching the intro before you enter the sight. The show was originally created by a company from Argentina, so I actually work with a number of native Spanish speakers in NYC. I'm looking forward to being able to talk to them in Spanish when I get back, though of course they all speak English just fine.

More theater news soon to come, I'm sure. Before I left tonight I took every postcard on the table to find out what else is going on (plus it's free wall decoration). Even in Spanish I feel so at home in the theatre but I miss having my hands in the process. I want to be doing something. When I go to Berlin (Halloween weekend!) I'm staying with a PHTS friend who lives there who said she would house me though she'll be in the middle of rehearsals. I told her I'd like to come one day, because I am going through severe rehearsal withdrawal. Usually it's all day, all the time, and now I haven't had a show to work on since mid-May. Maybe I'll write a play and do a whole production in my head. I'm already directing in my head every Lorca play we read in class...