Fuerzabruta, Roundhouse

The iconic running man sprints back to the Roundhouse this Christmas as South-American sensation Fuerzabruta returns for a new season. The production is fairly unchanged from previous incarnations, but, as the saying goes, if it aint broke don’t fix it.

Originating in Buenos Aires, Fuerzabruta has travelled the world, whilst also running off-Broadway since 2007.

The company describe their show as a ’360 degree experience’, with audience interaction, music, dance and belief-defying acrobatics. Every one of your senses is in overdrive: women scale the walls before splashing around in water tanks mere inches from an audience whose taller members may even have to duck. The prevalent production image is of a ‘ruggedly handsome man in a white’ crashing his way through a wall. This running man is the centrepiece of Fuerzabruta, the recurring motif pulling together the more disparate (but no less impressive) set pieces. 

There are a few niggles with the show. Your neck will start to hurt from staring at the ceiling (the perils of the 360 degree selling point) and if you suffer from claustrophobia you might not love the moments that said ceiling is 6 inches from your head. The experience in its entirety is, however, so immersive that you barely notice these potential problems.

The word Fuerzabruta translates as “brute force” and that is exactly what this show provides. It is astonishing. We can’t say much more without giving the whole game away, so we’ll stop there. 

But, just one more thing: don’t wear anything that you mind getting wet.