Fuerza Bruta, the 16-year-old immersive theater troupe founded by Diqui James and members of his previous group, De La Guarda, opens a 39-show run in Taipei on Tuesday next week of Wayra.
Created by James and Gaby Kerpel, the company’s musical director and composer, Wayra expands on their previous production, Fuerzabruta, and is a kinetic combination of multi-media lighting displays, massive wind-machines, acrobatics, lots of fog, illusions and head-pounding music, performed over and around a standing audience.
Fuerza Bruta, which was last in Taipei nine years ago and whose name translates as “brute force,” appears determined to force its audiences into a state of disorientation and awe, without the use of text, by delivering so much stimuli that the brain cannot process what it is seeing fast enough to react.
Photo courtesy of Fuerza Bruta
Its shows are designed to make it almost impossible for viewers to determine what is real and what is imagined.
Wayra, which means “wind” in the ancient Quechua language of the Andes, runs 80 minutes, and I do mean runs.
The white-suited man running continuously on the treadmill — through boxes, gunshots, chairs, tables and other obstacles — seen in Fuerzabruta is again central to Wayra, but he is just one of the characters who are constantly in motion.
Photo courtesy of Fuerza Bruta
There is also a giant bubble inflated over the heads of the audience, a two-sided climbing wall, a see-through swimming pool and lots of aerial displays, all played out in 360° surround-sound, the recorded music complemented by a percussion section to one side.
In addition to being buffeted by the wind machines, audiences are also likely to get wet — there is a sprinkler scene — and to suffer neck pains the following morning from having to crane their necks to watch all the action above.
However, Wayr has proven just as popular as its predecessor, having toured dozens of cities around the world.
Photo courtesy of Fuerza Bruta
If you go, remember to double-check your tickets as show times vary over the run. While the majority of the shows start at 8pm, there are a few 5pm starts.
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