The Encounter

To the question “What is Complicite?”, Lyn Gardner – theater critic of “The Guardian” newspaper – replied: “It is the reason I go to the theater.”

The Complicite theater company was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney (who continues as its artistic director), Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. The company has toured the globe, winning more than fifty major theater prizes. Influenced by the work and methods of the French actor, mime, and theater coach Jacques Lecoq, the company has presented its entirely unique take on devised and physical theater around the world.

Turning their name into action (“complicité” in French means “complicity”), the company’s actors always seek to “conspire” in some way with audiences, activating their senses and/or memories in an interactive way. For “The Encounter”, we are asked to wear headphones (hearing), while in “Mnemonic”, we were asked to hold a leaf (touch).

“Can you help us?” posted Complicite to its “friends” on Facebook, asking anyone who wanted to send in unwanted ceramic items (bowls, plates, and so on) to be smashed for the needs of “The Encounter”.

Theater fans from across Greece – 2,475 of them in all – made their way to Thessaloniki in the autumn of 2002 to see Complicite’s first appearance in the country, performing their legendary production “Mnemonic” at the National Theater of Northern Greece (Vassiliko Theatro – Royal Theater, 31 October & 1-2 November 2002).

Simon McBurney’s muse is the internationally-acclaimed actress Kathryn Hunter (of Greek descent, born Aikaterini Hadjipateras), who is the wife of Complicite’s co-founder Marcello Magni.

Actress Emma Thompson and McBurney have been best friends ever since they were teenagers.

Simon McBurney was ranked 31st on a list of “the 100 most powerful people in British culture” compiled by British newspaper “The Telegraph” in 2008.

McBurney voiced the house-elf Kreacher in both the seventh film of the Harry Potter franchise and its accompanying video game (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I”, 2010).

Greek actor and director Costas Filippoglou has collaborated extensively with Complicite.

Loren McIntyre (1917-2003) was an officer in the US Navy who went on to study ethnology and South American culture. He became known as one of the most influential photojournalists in the world, working with “National Geographic” and other publications. He wrote a number of books, chief among them “The Incredible Incas and Their Timeless Land” (1975) and “Amazonia” (1991); his books have yet to be translated into Greek. He was a co-writer, co-producer and researcher on the IMAX documentary “Amazon” (1997).

Between 1935 and 1983, McIntyre traveled non-stop around the US and South America. In 1971, he led a “National Geographic” expedition seeking the source of the Amazon River. He entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the discovery of a lake that took his name (Laguna McIntyre) in the Peruvian Andes, which was initially deemed the true source of the Amazon. Later studies revealed that the lake was not the river’s actual headwater. It should be noted that the precise headwater of the Amazon has been sought after since the 17th century.

McIntyre and his family kept a Colombian white-faced capuchin money (Cebus capucinus) named Chi Chi as a pet for 31 years.

Around 100 uncontacted communities of indigenous peoples are thought to live today in the Amazonian rainforest.

During the time of the Ceaușescu regime, Romanian writer Petru Popescu (born 1944) escaped to the US, where he became a famous, best-selling author of novels and screenplays. He was one of three co-writers of the allegorical eco-thriller “The Last Wave” (known as “Black Rain” in the US, 1977), directed by Peter Weir, and starring Richard Chamberlain as an Australian lawyer defending five Aboriginals accused of murdering one of their own. Freak weather phenomena appear, pointing to an ancient prophecy about a “Second Wave” that threatens a new Armageddon.

Gareth Fry, who created the sound design for “The Encounter”, is the award-winning sound designer of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, and has worked with major UK theater artists, companies and institutions, including Katie Mitchell, DV8, and the Old Vic Theater.

Binaural beats were discovered by German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839. The binaural hearing effect occurs when two almost identical frequencies (under 1500 Hz) are played separately into each ear, so that the brain picks up on the differences in rate between the two sounds. Through the use of stereophonic headphones, the brain combines the two signals to create the sensation of a third sound, which is called a binaural beat. An ever-increasing number of studies point to the positive effects of binaural beats on brain function.

Saturday 2 April

After performance talk with Simon McBurney
Chaired by Dr Katia Arfara, Artistic Director of the Theater and Dance Department at the Onassis Stegi.

Sunday 3 April

Workshop with Kirsty Housley, the co-director of “The Encounter”.

If you are a hearing aid user please bring along your direct input cable for use during the performance and make yourself known at Box Office upon arrival so that our technicians can talk you through how best to experience the show. If you don’t have a direct input cable or if you have any kind of hearing impairment make yourself known at Box Office and we will adapt the equipment accordingly.
As "The Encounter" is an extremely sound heavy show, there is no provision for Deaf audiences.