London-based theatre company Complicite's reputation for innovation is brilliantly affirmed with a show that deploys cutting-edge digital technology to expand the traditional techniques of theatrical storytelling.
The Encounter is a re-telling of the remarkable true story of a National Geographic photographer lost on assignment in a remote corner of the Amazon in 1969. His survival depends on winning acceptance from an elusive tribe who are retreating to remote parts of the rainforest to escape the devastating impact of modernity on their fragile world.
With no shared language, the photographer forges a bond with the tribal headman through ritualistic actions and eventually embraces the possibility of telepathic communication.
Opening with a highly amusing riff on the vanishing boundary between reality and fiction, solo performer Richard Katz explains the workings of the binaural microphone that generates the show's multi-dimensional soundscape.
The device, encapsulated within a mannequin, transmits to audience headphones. The magic of sonic engineering then conjures up convincing spatial illusions along with a richly textured layering of live sound effects blended into a musical score.
