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Scenes From The Contemporary Barcelona Stage: La Fura Dels Baus's Aspiration To The Authentic, Sharon G. Feldman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

In October 1983, just south of Barcelona at the annual Sitges Theatre Festival, beneath the railroad tracks in the claustrophobic space of a subterranean pedestrian passageway, La Fura dels Baus erupted into public view with an embryonic version of their first major spectacle, entitled Accions ("Actions"). The performance was conceived along the same aesthetic lines that continue to shape even the most recent work of this Catalan company. Accions consisted of a series of transgressive and, at times, startling exercicis pràctics ("practical exercises") intended to elicit an impulsive, visceral response from audience members. In their program notes, La Fura defined …