[Theatre Review] A Ghost in Your Ear

“The ghost is not real, it is only in your ear…”

A Ghost in Your Ear is an immersive and innovative new horror play, at the Hampstead Theatre in London. Due to its success, the run has been extended to 14th February and what better date for Valentine’s Day than sitting in the dark and being scared out of your wits?

George is an actor who has been called into a recording studio for a last minute audiobook recording of a chilling ghost story. George is clearly struggling with something and we can tell he is keen to earn some money, and get some work. He meets with sound engineer Sid, who sets the audience up with a little bit of exposition to give us a quick explanation of how the binaural sound works, and to catch us up with what’s been going on in their lives. George hasn’t seen the script until he starts recording – a terrifying tale that seems to spill out into real life as the story unfolds.

A Ghost in Your Ear is an incredibly simple production, but utilises binaural sound to fully immerse the audience. Each member of the audience has headphones to wear and George uses a special microphone that captures sound, and delivers a 360 degree audio experience. We can hear George talking on the stage, but we also hear him whisper into our left ear or tapthe microphone in our right ear. A ghoulish, disembodied head, the microphone immediately puts you on edge. Its featureless, emotionless face is truly haunting, a constant presence on stage. While there are only two characters in the play, it feels like three people are on stage the whole time.

The staging is fantastic. As you enter the theatre, you are in the dark with only a red light for guidance. There’s a huge panel of plexiglass in front of the stage, so while the audience nervously waits for the play to start, we see the reflections of everyone in the audience. Almost like a Pepper’s Ghost effect – we look like ghostly apparitions, faces floating in the beyond. (Seeing Steve Pemberton’s face as one of the ghoulish spectres in the audience was a fantastic bonus!) Behind the plexiglass is the recording studio, and behind that is the recording booth, where Sid spends most of the play. The sparse space puts the focus on George – standing centre stage, and really giving his performance his all. The audience is small, with only 80 or so people in the room. This enhances the intense intimacy and it genuinely feels like we’ve snuck into the recording studio, and shouldn’t be there. If you’ve ever ridden the brilliant Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, think of being packed with your fellow tourists in a recording studio and waiting for something exciting to happen (“make it a super stretch!”). There are no scenery changes, no interval. We are stuck in the recording studio for the next hour and a half. That alone is an anxiety-inducing thought.

The effects used during the performance are simple, and really effective as a result. Stage illusions always work best when they are not trying to do too much, and these scares made all of us scream. The communal experience of fear is wonderful - there was so much energy in the room.

Speaking of energy, actor George Blagden who plays George gave a hugely physical performance. Rather than just standing in front of the microphone and reading the script, George walks around. He emotes, he feels and he explores. The distance George stood away from the microphone added another dimension to the sound and the way George whispers into your ear might make you feel some kind of way. By the end of the performance, George was dripping with both sweat and tears – a physical demonstration of his sheer effort and dedication to his performance.

Writer and director, Jamie Armitage (Tony Award nominated co-director of Six), has created a brilliantly fun, and terrifying little capsule. A bubble you are trapped in for 90 stressful minutes, just waiting for it to pop. Like Ghost Stories, forgoing an interval and rattling through a story in 80 or 90 minutes is a really simple way to keep the audience frightened, and engaged. Nothing ruins all that tension building up in the room and your body, than a quick loo break and grabbing an ice cream from the foyer.

Armitage has spoken of his love of The Woman in Black and that is clear to see. Elements of the story and the staging are very similar to the OG terrifying theatre experience, but to elaborate on that would get into spoiler territory. As wonderful as The Woman in Black is, it doesn’t have the same impactful scares as A Ghost in Your Ear. My heart rate doubled, I screamed, I jumped and I clung to my friend with fear.

This is an amazing production and the perfect start to what is sure to be an incredible year for horror theatre. Catch A Ghost in Your Ear at London’s Hampstead Theatre before it ends on February 14th. Hopefully it will tour the UK, with other successful horror plays like Ghost Stories, The Woman in Black and 2:22 - A Ghost Story embarking on huge national tours. It’s a fun, chilling night out that every horror fan should experience.

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