All A'Twitter At Fuerza Bruta

In the past, I've had a negative attitude about shows encouraging tweeting at the theater. Even if it is expected that tweeting will only occur before, after, or at intermission, I think this only increases the likelihood that a phone will be left on (some say that having the phone out already reminds people to turn it off). On Thursday night I attended Fuerza Bruta's Twitter Night, and the environment at that show lent itself perfectly to such an event.

In Fuerza Bruta, the action takes place above and all around you. There is no dialogue--the aerialists perform to a techno-beat. The audience stands up and is directed to move throughout the show. Non-flash photography is allowed, so there are already phones and cameras out, but they aren't distracting, probably because there are so many other flashing lights. The club-like atmosphere draws a young crowd who, not to generalize, are likely to have a Twitter account.

As for the show itself, I don't enjoy being that close to people in an enclosed environment, but I found myself oohing and aahing along with everyone else at the gravity-defying stunts. Though I was self-conscious at first, I even found myself dancing and jumping at the end. As for the tweeting, I do have a Twitter now, but my non-iPhone doesn't allow me to tweet, so I had to wait until I got home. I expected to be able to pick out which audience members were participating, but I didn't even notice if others were tweeting or not. I read some of the tweets, and it seems like the evening was a success. Maybe this could be a regular thing for Fuerza Bruta, like their Boys Night, but I still can't think of any other shows I'd like to see follow suit.

Note: I was invited to see this play for free.