Enjoy your Christmas dinner, courtesy of Fura dels Baus…

Readers of Loserville!

Just to let you know about the amazing super-great unmissable Titus Andronicus by Catalan theatre company La Fura dels Baus. Known for theatrics antics separating audience and theatre, their spectacle in the Canal theatre in Madrid proved no exception. Vrooming round the basketball-court-sized room on mini quad-bikes, the actors of the Degustación bashed audience members out the way in order to continue playing the virtual shoot-’em-up game visualized on all four walls of the auditorium. Only when a ‘PAUSE’ appeared on the big screens could the audience members catch their breath.

The drama of our favourite Stratford-Upon-Avon gangster being played out on giant Segways, the audience could not help but admire the gory cutting-out-the-tongue scene of ill-fated Lavinia from below, simultaneously fearing for their lives as the vehicles aggressively divided the vacillating audience. An on-stage cook confused and delighted the audience by handing out delicious newly-made pastries/dried seaweed/sausages and mushrooms passed onto the actors and delivered in style by sexy segways. This message was not fully understood until the end of the show when audience members were invited on stage to enjoy the banquet and the message projected onto the surrounding walls was : After tragedy strikes, the people eat on. A humorous motto to the humorously conceived version of this Shakespearean tragedy. Despite Titus Andronicus’ 400+ year fame, the pounding dance music and fear-for-life felt during the quad bike ball-throwing scenarios dotted throughout the play made the audience overlook the boring plot of a tired play. Amazing stuff – come back Fura!!