The Encounter (NHB Modern Plays)

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.

Inspired by the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu, The Encounter traces McIntyre's journey into the depths of the Amazon rainforest, incorporating innovative technology into a solo performance to build a shifting world of sound.

The Encounter opened at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2015 performed by Simon McBurney, and received its London premiere at the Barbican in February 2016 before embarking on a world tour.

'Masterful storytelling from a man and a company who are incapable of remaining within known theatrical boundaries' - Independent

'The stuff of a twisting, turning, thoroughly engrossing fairytale... McBurney captures the metaphysical spirit - as well as the pulse-quickening heart - of the experience with this head-turning, spellbinding show' - Telegraph

'The effect is a soundcloud of a process, in which fact and fiction, past and present, research and production intermingle, spinning a story out of the air' - Variety

'In a solo performance made with many people... [McBurney] pulls the thread of a story from out of the noise of contemporary western life and the sounds of the jungle to create a meditation on interconnectedness, perception and time' - Guardian

'The Encounter is a tour de force that shows contemporary theatre at its most immersive and thought-provoking' - Financial Times

Auteur

Complicite is a British theatre company founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. The Company's style of visual and devised theatre has been influenced by Jacques Lecoq and features extreme movement, often dazzling use of technology, such as projection and cameras, as well as lyrical and philosophical contemplation of serious themes. The company's lineup changes frequently, though Simon McBurney continues to be the artistic director. Major productions include The Master and Margarita (2011/12), A Dog's Heart (2010) with De Nederlandse Opera and English National Opera, Endgame (2009), Shun-kin (2008), A Disappearing Number (2007), Measure for Measure (2004), The Elephant Vanishes (2003, 2004) (performed in Japanese, adapted from the work of the writer Haruki Murakami), The Noise of Time (2000) (about the Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich, title from the 1925 memoir and collected essays by the poet Osip Mandelstam, published in English in 1993); Mnemonic (1999); and The Street of Crocodiles (1992) (inspired by the life and works of Bruno Schulz).