Argentine spectacle 'Fuerza Bruta' a 'force' to contend with

Who'd have thunk that the landmark 1889 Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University could be transformed into what is likely to be Chicago's hippest and trendiest nightclub and performance art space this summer?

For that unconventional theater conversion, we have to thank the arrival of the internationally successful Argentine show "Fuerza Bruta: Look Up." Translated from the Spanish as "Brute Force," the show actively courts the audience (who physically stand the entire time on the Auditorium Theatre stage) to dance along and interact with its 10 attractive performers through the whole running time.

Of course how willing you are to participate will influence how much fun you get out of the show - and be sure to move out of the way when the stagehands ask you to. It will also help if you're taller, since shorter people may have to jockey for better views now and then.

This wordless and unconventional show dreamed up by "De La Guarda" creators Diqui James and Gaby Kerpel has plenty of arresting images: A man toiling past (and through) loads of obstacles on an enormous treadmill, a pair of dancers perpendicularly tumbling back and forth across a wall of silver mylar and a series of cardboard and Styrofoam walls and panels that the performers (and some audience members) get to crash through.

But most impressive is "Fuerza Bruta's" notorious shallow translucent pool that gets lowered down over the heads of the audience. Try to work your way to the center of the stage to fully-experience this amazing piece of stagecraft and to get up close and personal with the four female dancers (in clinging wet clothes) who frolic above in the sliding water. Otherwise you'll be stuck on the sidelines.

Whether or not all these amazing images in "Fuerza Bruta" add up to make any coherent sense is up to the viewer. I'll take a stab and suggest that it's all a metaphor for struggling through life's difficulties - which is made easier with the help of friends and loved ones.

Now a word of warning: Older or staid people who prefer having a seat and not getting spritzed or possibly splashed with water may want to skip this show (though these audience members will get loads of coolness points if they give their tickets to late-teen or 20-something aged relatives). And don't be shocked if you do catch fleeting glimpses of, um, the female anatomy beneath performers' soaked clothing.

Audiences who want to get into the spirit can enhance their night-out experience at "Fuerza Bruta" by arriving early to imbibe and hang out with friends. The Auditorium Theatre lobby has been decked out with sleek couches and colorfully lit table cubes amid lots of blaring music.

While some audiences may resist "Fuerza Bruta's" constant push to party, others will be happy to fully embrace it. I had fun, but as a theater buff and architecture fan I'm just hoping that all the sprayed water and mist in the "Fuerza Bruta" performance art party doesn't end up damaging one of Chicago's architectural landmarks.