By Rose Rushe
CULTURE Factory, the 350,000 sq ft site in Castletroy that once housed Dell, is the ultimate venue for Fuerza Bruta, the renowned Argentinean performance troupe who will bring their rocket powered performance to Limerick from March 13 to 22.
“Expect an immersive experience,” warned City of Culture CEO Mike Fitzpatrick at Monday’s press launch. “There are people going to be floating over your head, performing through the air, a man breaking through block walls as he runs. There will be acrobats and swimmers hanging from the ceiling”.
All delivered with an ear-bursting soundtrack to drive the audience through the multitude of performances. On site in the steel frame warehouse, Fuerza Bruta (brute force) company manager Mariana Mele spoke of a “primal expression meeting new technologies. People need to come, be included, live that experience with us…all of the scenes moving around with performers high overhead and at your back”.
This is an enormous import made possible by City of Culture funding. A dozen technicians will put in ten 12-hour days to create stages and moving mechanics before this high-velocity show opens March 13. It has sold out in London’s mighty Round House venue in its January run there.
Having toured four potential sites with the Latin American troupe, Limerick arts officer Sheila Deegan forecast that at least 50,000 sq ft of the Culture Factory will be utilised by this intensely physical spectacle.“The high ceilings here with steel girders was essential, solid enough to hold the performers,” she explained. “Expect swimmers – and mild nudity – to be visible through polythene waves overhead.
“A food village of hot and cold stalls will precede Fuerza Bruta as the audience/ participants will be on their feet for 75 minutes.”
Sheila Deegan is also looking forward to two other City of Culture launches: the Kate O’Brien Weekend now filling four days and a political/ visual commentary on Congo’s ongoing horror.
“We have Anne Enright, Edna O’Brien, Michael Longley, Frank McGuiness coming to Kate O’Brien [rebranded as Limerick Literary Festival in this, its 30th year]. Pianist Finghin Collins will play in Lime Tree Theatre in the expanded programme led by Marie Hackett on the Kate O’Brien committee. The Duchess of Magenta – remember magenta is the colour of City of Culture, and she has a historic connection with Limerick – will open it this year.
“This festival is an example of something that is part of the city for 30 years getting City of Culture support to allow grass roots organisations to grow”.
Finally, Ireland’s contribution to the Venice Biennale will be a five-screen installation called ‘The Enclave’ of film, photography and sound recorded over two years by in the violent depths of the Congo. Operating out of Ormston House, March 28 to May 5, three professionals created this multi-media narrative that pivots on a dichotomy between aesthetic form and chilling revelatory content.
