Spontaneous Combustion

“It’s like a German nightclub,” one guy says as we’re herded into a white circle outline marked on the floor of the dark, open space of the Daryl Roth Theater. Sure, I think, as the techno beats pump through the fog-filled room, except none of us were prepared to go dancing, or to be smashed together in an uncomfortable ring in the dark. Fuerzabruta (meaning “brute force”) is the inevitable follow-up to De La Guarda, the interactive theater experience that ran in the same space for six years, so perhaps I should have been better prepared for the wet, the wild and the forced fun.

I’m all for interactive productions: I’ve had meat thrown at me, nude bathers cry in my face and competed for prizes in subterranean chambers with the audience converted to battling armies. The creators of Fuerzabruta faced a difficult task in attempting to craft something smart, original and entertaining that would also attract the tourist hordes, and there are some stunning moments: aerialists who seem to dance on nothing, a running man on a treadmill who bursts through walls. But so much seems to be cribbed from indie cinema. Are we seeing a scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Is that a reference to Run Lola Run? And then there’s the unfortunate suggestions: Is that the “Cotton Eye Joe” dance now tricked out with confetti boxes to bash over your head? The one subversive moment is also the most gorgeous. A large transparent Mylar pool descends from the ceiling with women sliding in the shallow water in their cotton undies. It evokes child-like moments of splashing in puddles—which only make the middle-aged men attempting to grope through the hard plastic that much creepier. Having Cirque du Soleil’s O in Vegas, I admit it’s a smart way to out-wow the ultimate water show.

The out-of-towners loved being crammed together and doused with water (don’t we already do this on the subway on rainy days?). They even hopped up and down to the beat of the music—without drugs! But we all know that if we were really in a Berlin nightclub, we’d have plenty of stimulants to assist us, and we wouldn’t need anyone to coerce us to jump up and down to have a good time.

Through Feb. 17, 2008, Daryl Roth Theatre, 20 Union Squar East (at 15th St.), 212-239-6200; Tues.-Thurs. 8; Fri. 8 & 10:30; Sat. 7 & 10; Sun. 7, $70.