'The Encounter' an interactive one-man ride

‘THE ENCOUNTER’: Simon McBurney. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE ENCOUNTER
Conceived, directed & performed by Simon McBurney
Inspired by the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu
Through January 8, 2016
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), http://theencounterbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

A one-man show on Broadway is always risky, and that’s certainly the case with Simon McBurney’s The Encounter, a 110-minute monologue that is more like an interactive radio show than a traditional theatrical experience. Audiences must wear low-tech headphones attached to each seat to actually hear the show, giving things a gimmicky feel, but Mr. McBurney gives a consistently fine performance so it’s worth keeping one’s eyes open.

Mr. McBurney is no stranger to nontraditional theater. He founded the British theater company Complicite—which specializes in technological wizardry, projections, etc. —back in the 1980s. The Encounter is a visual and aural retelling and adaptation of the 1992 book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu about National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre and his 1969 expedition through the Amazon rainforest. In what was supposed to be a mere three-day journey, McIntyre ended up being held captive for several months by the indigenous Mayouruna tribe. Through a series of monologues, Mr. McBurney tells how the tribe communicates in a nonverbal form of communication called “beaming” (a form of telepathy) and shuns the material world.

As the show starts out, Mr. McBurney is at home watching his young daughter as he takes the audience on this strange interactive trip into the Amazon. We hear the sounds of monkeys, mosquitoes, footsteps in the forest and the like. There are many twists in the story of Loren McIntyre, from starvation to hallucinations to an infestation of maggots under his skin. Compelling? Yes, but the show drags at times.

Sound designers Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin offer a sumptuous array of sounds to take us on Mr. McBurney’s glorious head trip. Mr. McBurney does an admirable job of conveying the frustration and delirium of photographer Loren McIntyre. This, of course, is no easy task using just words and sounds to propel the story, with not much onstage other than a table, some microphones (one shaped like a human head) and bottles of water. Sometimes the sounds of the rainforest, singing children and the like are sensory overload, and this isn’t the easiest show to follow.

Although The Encounter is not for everyone, fans of “3D audio,” radio plays and one-man monologues will find a lot to love in this ambitious production.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 7, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on October 6, 2016