Jamie Armitage’s A Ghost In Your Ear has seen theatre-goers queuing up to don the headsets attached to every seat in Hampstead’s studio theatre – and put themselves through a series of terrifying jump scares.
Seated in rows, you face the glass wall of a studio where out of work actor George Blagden is recording an audio version of a supernatural tale for his mate.
Sound engineer Jonathan Livingstone jokes about impending fatherhood as he tees up the mic, and for the next 80 odd minutes we’re gripped by the story of an estranged son visiting his father’s ancestral home following his death.
What unfolds is an horrific tale of parental abuse, revealed through unsettling noises, clues and goings on in the remote house.
There’s the flavour of classic Victorian ghost stories from the likes of M.R James in the cruel father teaching his young son to toughen up – and the notion of an inherited curse.
Every bump, disembodied voice and footstep is relayed through the headphones in hyper realistic binaural sound that tricks the ears into thinking it’s human made.
The soundtrack is the creation of Ben and Max Ringham whose work on the likes of last year’s Macbeth starring David Tennant is bringing a fresh edge to live theatre.
But as George tells the tale, it’s clear something paranormal has invaded the recording booth, and fiction is bleeding into real life.
A mic stand crashes over, a light flickers, a door clicks open and a child’s voice speaks, but jolly Jonathan appears oblivious.
It gets much scarier – in an enjoyable way – and there’s a twist of course, but Armitage who also directs expertly builds and dissipates the tension.
Credit to George Blagden too for an engaging performance as a self-regarding actor unravelling into terror.
A Ghost in Your Ear runs at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs until February 14. Bookings at hampsteadtheatre.com
