EIF Conversations 4: Simon McBurney

Award-winning actor, director and writer Simon McBurney has received numerous international accolades for both his screen and stage work, including a Perrier and multiple Oliviers.

Rarely do I find a linear story to be a reflection of life as I see it

Simon McBurney

McBurney has featured in blockbuster films such as The Last King of Scotland (2006), Body of Lies (2008) and The Theory of Everything (2014).

His work centres on physical theatre, initiated by training at the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris, whose foundations are based on spontaneity and observing the dynamics of the surrounding world.

In 1983 he co-founded Complicite, where his improvisational principles and extraordinary physical deftness on-stage drew acclaim for reinvigorating British theatre.

The company’s 1999 production Mneumonic won an Olivier for ‘Best New Play’ and, like The Encounter, concerns the function of memory, telling the story of a dying man represented by a wooden chair.

McBurney follows Brechtian theatre techniques, creating overlapping narratives that are past and present, fictive and factual. He says, "Very rarely do I find a linear story to be a reflection of life as I see it," describing his production as “a compositional piece of theatre”.

He assembles his plays according to instinct, with meaning only becoming clear much later, and often leaves sections unwritten, emphasising how every piece of theatre is susceptible to change, even if considered a complete production.

In doing so, he aims to establish a “direct relationship” between himself, the audience and storytelling, instigating a “new way of listening” by challening preconceptions about theatre.

The Encounter epitomises this intense form of narrative focused on impulse and collective engagement, creating a carthartic experience that analyses human consciousness and the importance of living in the present.