THE ENCOUNTER Previews- Page 2

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 9:59am

GreasedLightning said: "I have to highly disagree, personally ^

Rear Mezz of the Golden is my least favorite seat on Broadway. And I've sat in the balcony at the Kerr! 

 

"

Interesting! Well we all have our own opinions. For this show at least I did not mind the rear mezz the slightest bit.

 

[Broadway_Boy]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 12:25pm

trpguyy, now that you mention it the projection could have just as easily been done with lights and moved slightly once.  

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 5:48pm

And here is a post that was on ATC a short time ago by someone who is a regular poster here as well.; "A haunting, visceral theater experience awaits audiences at the Golden." I am wondering if "The Wiz" saw the first preview as he usually does. Whizzer?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 6:03pm

There were actually three Broadway first previews last night so my schedule is a little messed up right now, ha. I was at The Front Page last night, but will be at The Encounter tonight. (Love, Love, Love begins tomorrow and Oh, Hello starts on Friday; Heisenberg was the third show that began last night. Did all the producers get together and say, you know, we should all really begins previews the week of 9/18!)

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 6:15pm

I'll look forward to seeing what you think. Thanks for responding. 

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 6:52pm

I normally try to go in blind to shows but since this was different I read more but the more I read about it the less I want to go. I still expect it to be on TDF a lot. 

[10086sunset]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 7:08pm

WhizzerMarvin said: "There were actually three Broadway first previews last night so my schedule is a little messed up right now, ha. I was at The Front Page last night, but will be at The Encounter tonight. (Love, Love, Love begins tomorrow and Oh, Hello starts on Friday; Heisenberg was the third show that began last night. Did all the producers get together and say, you know, we should all really begins previews the week of 9/18!)"

Whizzer, have to admit I was wondering which of the three you were going to see last night...

Looking forward to your take on this...

[Robert16]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 8:45pm

I picked up a free ticket from Show Score club for this afternoon's matinee. The longest two hours of my life. It was exhausting, tedious & disappointing. It was like listening to an audiobook. Bare stage with a table, water bottles and microphones. Almost no use of visual just the headsets to bring this story to life. Interesting gimmick but honestly it didn't work for me. 

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 9:20pm

I suffered through two shows this week. The Cherry Orchard  and now The Encounter.  What a way to start the New Theatre Season. This show I can not recommend to anyone.  Is there an audience for somethig like this on Broadway ? I found it boring and thanks to tdf didn't pay to much.

[ardiem]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 10:08pm

I hate to pile on, but I just got out of this and had to warn others as quickly as possible to stay far away from this. What may seem novel for two minutes quickly devolves into an interminably long test of endurance. I feel so duped.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:03pm

Oh now I understand why everything I've read about this show has been so vague and ineffectual in actually describing the proceedings. 

The most recent play that springs to mind when comparing anything to The Encounter is Privacy, which was also interactive and played like a massive TED talk. Similarly, parts of The Encounter felt like a college lecture on the constructs of time and language, with diversions into how our brain processes sound, memory and past, present and future. 

The other part of The Encounter is a one person play narrative about an American explorer in 1969 who stranded himself 400 miles from "civilization" in the Amazon basin in search of a tribe heretofore believed never to have been in contact with modern society. There are many musings about the ethics in doing this, and some of this I found interesting. The portions of pure survival story are intriguing and would make for a good movie. 

Unfortunately, the Amazonian narrative is often interrupted and stalled until it wildly overstays its welcome in the final 30 minutes; runtime is 2 hrs. 

Everyone wears headphones and the sound design is pretty spectacular. The sound jumps from side to side and back to front. He overlaps different sounds- the first time we hear the jungle is rather impressive- but sometimes the cacophony is overwhelming in an oppressive, messy way. 

I respected the immense amount of work that must have gone into creating the piece, but my respect didn't translate into enthusiasm or joy too often. What can be best said about The Encounter is that it's unique and different from other Broadway offerings. Honestly this would go over better with the BAM crowd- clearly the reactions here will end up being mixed at best. 

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:08pm

I felt the same way. Not pleased with a one man show about being lost in a Brazilian jungle. If it played Stage 42 ( Little Shubert ) It wouldn't stand a chance. An unlucky, but beautiful venue. It is , as I said, a Fringe show suited for off Broadway though.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:09pm

This sounds like something that will end its limited engagement early. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:12pm

But it got nothing but incredible reviews in London? So what happened? 

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:12pm

Ugh.

This constant negative after taste these past couple nights makes me so sad. It seems to be promoted as something truly extraordinary, never-seen-before spectacular. Clearly, it's just a 2-hr excursion through the Amazon at the same plodding speed... 

 

I guess I won't see this one. At this rate. I'm praying to get some positivity out of this. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:15pm

Well sometimes innovation is great but a little of it goes along way. I have heard people comment similarly about the musical "In Transit." That the a cappella concept is really cool for about 10 minutes, and then becomes relentless.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:18pm

See, I was most engaged when it was the survival narrative in the Amazon. I liked hearing how he interacted with the tribe and had to think on his feet to survive. I dreaded the interruptions from daughter, and while some of the more metaphysical musings were interesting, I wanted more of the superficial story with the fun jungle sounds. Those sequences were like listening to Bert Healy and the Boylan sisters doing their thing. 

The first 5-10 minutes setting up how we hear, etc worked for me, but once we jumped into the narrative I longed to stay there. Of course, I have to admit I hated the ceremony back to the beginning and couldn't wait for it to end. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:28pm

I go to the theatre to see theatre.

I do not go to the theatre to don a headphone in order to hear an actor recount a verbose, meandering,  staggeringly boring tale for two seemingly never-ending hours, punctuated by assorted sound effects.

If I wanted a radio broadcast experience, I could listen to a tape of one in the comfort of my own home, without the constraints of a headphone, or the discomfort of cramped seats and inadequate air conditioning.

What a waste of money and time.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:31pm

The vaguely worded ads made me extraordinarily intrigued and even a little amped for this. These reviews, however, sound painfully and dreadfully boring.

Updated On: 9/21/16 at 11:31 PM

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:37pm

Oof I think I'm going to skip this one.

Thanks for all the reviews and for everyone who actually explained what this is since I could not for the life of me understand the concept.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:58pm

Seeing it tomorrow. Not sure what to think. I'm SUCH a visual person, that part of me is a little bummed. It seems like this would have been interesting to hear while on the subway, but not to pay and sit and listen. I like visuals. I like seeing design, etc. So not sure this is my thing. But hey, the ticket is free. So I'll try it.

[Theater3232]

Posted: 9/21/16 at 11:58pm

Maybe this would work as a 90 minute show at St Ann's Warehouse, but 2 hours is way too long for this (many people started to leave at the 1 hour 40 minute mark).  The only thing halfway interesting is when they blast the music at the 90 minute mark and the guy goes crazy with the hammer, smashing up the whole set and knocking the table & everything else over.  But then 30 more minutes of excruciating boredom follows.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 9/22/16 at 12:15am

After Eight said: "If I wanted a radio broadcast experience, I could listen to a tape of one in the comfort of my own home, without the constraints of a headphone..."

Small point, the psycho-acoustics of binaural audio only work if you're wearing headphones, but I get what you mean.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/22/16 at 12:32am

Trpguyy,

I know nothing about either "psycho acoustics," or  "binauaral audio." Nor do I care to.

I have a cassette player. I can listen to tapes without headphones. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 9/22/16 at 12:37am

I assumed you'd seen the show, which is how you'd know it's a waste or not. The binaural aspect (why you need headphones) is explained in the show. Also, Google.