Performance 'Metro' gives you a slap in the face #amsfringe #tf2010

A new day, so new chances to find the Fringe's greatest gem. Today, I am taken from Theatre Bellevue into a nearby alley. Suddenly I see her lying there. A junk, like there are more walking around in Amsterdam. I prefer to walk around it quickly. Afraid of smelling them or being accosted.

Metro, a play by Cat Smits and Anne Verheij, is an unpleasant performance. This time I cannot walk through. She is lying on some pieces of cardboard in a corner of a scrapyard. The rain drips right next to her leg. She takes a sip from the can of beer and scratches herself. The itch remains and so she scratches again. And again. Smits plays so realistically that you almost forget this is a performance. Her doll keeps her going. Then she stands up. She approaches me. She gets too close. What is she going to do? If I don't respond to her advances, she looks at me so full of hate that it grabs me by the throat. If the rest of the audience does not respond to her doll's begging hand, she knows what time it is. She quickly grabs some goodies and leaves. Everyone watches silently. Just like in real life.

Metro is a performance that hits you hard in the face by showing you something you would rather keep your eyes closed to. An hour afterwards, I am still thinking about the girl. What a confrontation and how fantastically played.

Metro by Cat Smits and Anne Verheij. Theatre Bellevue, Amsterdam, 10 September 2010. Still to be seen until Saturday 11 September 2010.