The Encounter: Open Your Hearts and Ears!

Fun Facts: The Encounter is based on the true story of Loren McIntyre, an American photojournalist who gets lost in a remote part of Brazil in 1969 where he is captured by a local tribe. In 1991 his story was told by author Petru Popescus in the novel Amazon Beaming. During The Encounter Simon McBurney (writer, director and actor) plays several recordings of the interviews he and Popescus had, he also reads directly from the book.

Target Audience: Everyone should to see this! It is a fascinating play and different to anything you have ever seen, or heard.

Best Bit: When we arrived at our seats there were headphones waiting for us. Having had a long day, I second guessed myself if we were on a plane and not at the theatre but as I looked up we were indeed at the Golden Theatre and everyone around us had already put theirs on. As it turned out, the headphones became the ticket which transported us between London and the Amazon with brilliant sound effects and trickery.

Morning After Effect: I was extremely curious about the people I encountered wearing headphones on the train and walking through the city, I wondered what they were listening too and why on earth we were all buzzing around at such a rapid rate.

Verdict: A riveting exploration told like a chief around an ancient camp fire by virtue of modern technology.

The headsets are not just for the golden oldies shuffling in to see The Encounter, they are mandatory. Simon McBurney is already on stage interacting with the crowd and while you can hear him just fine without the headphones, you are instructed to use them. Sniffles, sneezing and any murmurs are silenced as I place my headphones over my ears. The theatre feels smaller, McBurney seems closer and strangely my periphery vision appears stunted so my entire focus hones towards the direction of the sound. I am experiencing a remarkable solitude.

As I focus my attention to the stage I see a number of microphones placed haphazardly, a large amount of plastic water bottles, a box of film, a desk and what looks like a head on a stick. This head on a stick is a binaural microphone and it allows sound to be isolated from the left or right ear hence the headphones. McBurney swiftly gets the show on track and demonstrates how the various microphones work, he moves from one part of the stage to another interacting with the various props and it sounds like he is bouncing around in your brain!

Despite him shaking a bottle of water in front of the microphone and telling you it sounds like a river, my mind seems to ignore the image being presented and rather experience the river on a cellular level. For the most part my ears have silenced my thoughts and allowed McBurney and sound designers Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin to trick me into believing we are wherever they say we are. And thus, the adventure begins and we are falling from the sky in an airplane.

McBurney starts to recite the passages from Amazon Beaming detailing how Robert McIntyre landed in the jungle, his voice has transformed and he sounds much like David Attenborough - I immediately want to take him home so he can read me bedtime stories every night! McBurney switches to another microphone where we meet the voice of Loren McIntyre, he sounds like a real camel man and a deep-husky-sexiness lingers from every vowel in your ears. This is a man you would follow into the jungle!

We then meet a new character who jolts us back and forth between reality and time - McBurney's five-year-old daughter who can't sleep. She is curious and wants to know what he is up to, relentless about not going to bed so he compromises with a story. She reminds us that from a young age we crave stories and how they have the power to mold our minds. She also serves as a representative for the next generation to which we will leave this planet.

Simon McBurney must have been utterly mad during his writing process. The voices that bounce around on stage replicate what must have tormented him as he breathed life into this play. I cannot imagine the hours of research, recording, workshops and rehearsals! He is a true acting master. The sound effects contribute massively to this journey but without his belief and interpretation of each location it would just be noise. He adds life and it is outstanding to witness!

The Encounter is absolutely beautiful. The narrative has been layered and structured in a brilliant manner. McBurney and his team have created a stunning juxtaposition to capture a story about a man whose life was dedicated to visuals and verbiage by using sound and imagination. This is not just an adventure story about a man who finds himself in the jungle but rather a story about finding man, and trying to understand how we exist within time, what consciousness means and whether or not we have a purpose?

Reviewed by Nicola Quinn

John Golden Theatre, New York City
October 23rd 2016
Find me on Twitter: @newyorktheatre

View our show pages for more information about The Encounter, John Golden Theater.