The Encounter NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (637)
See it if you're interested in adventures and a perfectly creative performance.
Don't see it if you're not open to an innovative storytelling.
See it if you are passionate about the environment, you love suspense and are an adventurer at heart. This was an incredible experience.
Don't see it if you have a problem sitting for 2 hours straight or you're squeamish about blood.
See it if you care about the audio/sonic/sound world, you love story-telling, you want something unique and completely unforgettable, amazing show
Don't see it if you do not care about sound and/or how it is made created(effects)you need a visual story,hate narration,hate 1man shows(usually me)not this
See it if you want to see a truly unique piece of theatre which isn't to be missed! A tour de force of a one man show with stunning tech elements
Don't see it if you can't sit through a show without an intermission, don't like one man shows and aren't a fan of interactive theatrical experiences.
See it if you are ready for an immersive storytelling experience. I was uncomfortable & challenged - an experience I won't soon forget
Don't see it if You want a big cast & visuals; you create the visual experience in your imagination; or if you are looking to be passively entertained
See it if you want to see a show unlike anything else on Broadway - technically dazzling and absorbing performances by a single man.
Don't see it if you're expecting a classic one-man show without modern flair and traditional plot.
See it if you enjoy one person shows that use technology as an tool, not a crutch to tell an engaging and engrossing story.
Don't see it if you don't like to think about environmental consequences of actions or the possibilities of real-life magic...
See it if You are open to a show where sound takes center stage; you like one-man shows
Don't see it if You will be offended by an encounter between a Westerner and indigenous people; you are not open to a theatrical experience of sound Read more
Critic Reviews (62)
"Whether you'll love 'The Encounter' depends on how much you value a show's vive la difference factor...The unique storytelling approach's grip on my senses wasn't quite firm enough to hold me for almost 2 hours. During the last twenty minutes or so, I caught myself sneaking glances at my watch...Even if it weren't about 20 minutes too long, you might find all those voices and philosophical observations about time, life and, death as often distancing as fully engaging."
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"McBurney is able to achieve an immersive theatrical experience by having a deep understanding of the essence of human perceptions, and making full use of everything that’s readily available. McBurney, with the help of sound designers Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, has turned the performance into a synesthesia-inducing, orgasmic auditory experience, and the rigidly structured Broadway theatre into an intimate, elastic organism that breathes through various dimensions."
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"Part of the thrill of 'The Encounter' is the astounding binaural technology...The result is practically like watching a 3-D movie...Yet most of what makes 'The Encounter' such an extraordinary theatrical outing is in the beautifully crafted telling of the tale by McBurney...In every moment, he brings enormous passion and conviction to the proceedings...The piece occasionally feels longer than it should...Still, audiences with an open mind will undoubtedly be changed for the better."
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"This is more sound effects than story, and as such only held my interest for so long...The story takes second place to the 'show.' McBurney is a combination of storyteller and magician/technician–emphasis on the latter. We marvel at his technical skills over and over again...In the end it seemed less important that the tale was told and more important that McBurney was at the center, doing the telling. He is griot, who loves the sound of his own voice, looking for a tribe. Not my cuppa tea."
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"Definitely a triumph of technology...It’s basically a radio play staged live in a Broadway house by one very talented vocally gifted performer...I could list the heady concepts discussed and theorized upon but the list would grow long and overwrought. Sadly, this is also an apt description of this play...Somewhere along the path the novelty began to wear off...There wasn’t enough of interest on the stage to keep me invested visually...The story grew convoluted and confusing."
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"An aural rollercoaster. In its aftermath, the show leaves you with intellectual whiplash...The layers of ideas that underpin the show make this an unexpected and probing Broadway offering...Most of all, we become acutely aware of the act of storytelling in 'The Encounter'–the mechanics, the microphones, the music, and the objects of theatrical manipulation. Yet, we convert these articles of stage fiction seamlessly into this aural adventure, all the while knowing it’s a trick."
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"At one point, McBurney asks you to close your eyes, thus allowing a sound picture to form in your head of something not actually happening. There will be temptations to close your eyes again, especially when the narrative begins to wear thin...You may find yourself drifting off, overwhelmed by the convincing aural landscape into losing the thread of the storytelling. This tendency for the drama’s contents to be subsumed by its form is 'The Encounter’s' most significant weakness."
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"Relying on sounds and downplaying the visual struck me as an odd way to tell the story of a professional photographer...The final phase of Loren McIntyre’s journey is a payoff for patience, when attention is drawn to the stage, as the performer takes off his shirt to reenact a shamanistic ritual, and the lighting, set and projection designers go to town, Simon McBurney’s well-honed theatricality–visual at last–matching the mystical, mesmerizing real-life fever dream he has been voicing."
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