Photo © Robbie Jack
Photo © Robbie Jack
Photo © Chloe Courtney

Directed & performed by

Simon McBurney

Co-director

Kirsty Housley

Associate director

Jemima James

Design

Michael Levine

Sound

Gareth Fry with Pete Malkin

Lighting

Paul Anderson

Projection

Will Duke

Inspired by the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu.

 

In 1969 Loren McIntyre, a National Geographic photographer, found himself lost among the people of the remote Javari Valley in Brazil. It was an encounter that was to change his life, bringing the limits of human consciousness into startling focus. 

 

Simon McBurney traces McIntyre's journey into the depths of the Amazon rainforest, incorporating innovative technology into his solo performance to build a shifting world of sound.

 

A Complicité co-production with Edinburgh International Festival, the Barbican, London, Onassis Cultural Centre – Athens, Schaubühne Berlin, Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne and Warwick Arts Centre. Live stream supported by The Space.
Age guidance 12+

 

Watch an online discussion with Simon McBurney and guests recorded on Wednesday 20 May: watch on Facebook

We are, as a consequence of this pandemic, bodily cut off from one another. Disconnected. Isolated. But perhaps this sense of our separation one from another, is simply a heightening of what we felt before this all began. We are thinking now, not only about how long this will last, but also what happens on the other side. To reconnect we need, perhaps, to learn to listen more closely. To each other. To our communities. To other cultures. To nature itself. 

 

The Encounter is at its heart a story about ‘listening’, not 'hearing' but listening; to other, older narratives which, at the deepest level, form who we are, and if we do, we can imagine how we can 'begin' again.”
Simon McBurney

 

Visit our resource website for more information on the making of The Encounter.

 

Tour

2018 Tour

Odeon Théâtre de l'Europe, Paris

29 March - 8 April 2018

Barbican, London

14 April – 5 May 2018

DeSingel, Antwerp

9 - 12 May 2018

Schaubühne, Berlin

17 – 20 May 2018

Golden Mask Festival, Moscow

25 – 27 May 2018

2017 Tour

The Curran, San Francisco

25 April - 7 May 2017

Wallis Annenberg, Los Angeles

6 - 16 April 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

30 March - 1 April 2017

Auckland Arts Festival

(performed by Richard Katz)
15 - 19 March 2017

Adelaide Festival

(performed by Richard Katz)
7 - 11 March 2017

Perth International Arts Festival

(performed by Richard Katz)
16 - 25 February 2017

Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne

(performed by Richard Katz)
2 - 10 February 2017

Sydney Festival

(performed by Richard Katz)
18 - 28 January 2017

2016 Tour

Broadway - John Golden Theatre

20 Sept 2016 - 8 Jan 2017

Les Nuit de Fourviere, Lyon

23 - 25 June 2016

Printemps Des Comediens, Montpellier

16 - 18 June 2016

Holland Festival, Amsterdam

9 - 12 June 2016

Wiener Festwochen, Vienna

2 - 5 June 2016

Oxford Playhouse

25 - 28 May 2016

Brighton Festival

11 - 15 May 2016

Manchester HOME

16 - 19 March 2016

Athens The Onassis Cultural Centre

1 - 3 April 2016

Live stream online

1 - 8 March 2016

London Barbican

12 February - 6 March 2016

2015 Tour

Warwick Arts Centre

10 - 11 October 2015

Bristol Old Vic

18 - 20 September 2015

Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne

8 - 12 September 2015

Edinburgh International Festival

8 - 23 August 2015

Awards

2015

Herald Angel Award (Simon McBurney)

2016

The Evening Standard Award for Best Design (Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin)
The Knights of Illumination Award for Best Projection (Will Duke)

2017

Stage Award for Innovation
2017 Special Tony Award for Sound Design (Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin)

Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (Simon McBurney)

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design in a Play (Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin)

The Helpmann Award for Best Sound Design (Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin)

2021

Off West End OnComm Award for The Encounter online, Recorded Shows / Pre-Covid19 Lockdown Recording / Significant Edits