Horror is not normally a genre that would draw me and Janie into the theatre. But this piece sounded fascinating when it was announced many months ago and we trust Hampstead Downstairs to look after us…even though the tickets came through saying “main stage” rather than “downstairs” (see headline image).
We also trusted that Jamie Armitage would look after us, following a similarly genre-busting experience with his play, An Interrogation, earlier this year – in that instance the genre was police procedurals – a genre we would normally avoid even more emphatically than horror.
We were right to trust our hosts and our playwright. A Ghost In Your Ear, which we saw on the first preview performance, was an entertaining and interesting evening in the theatre. It held our attention and teased our senses throughout its 90+ minutes. If anything, we felt a little over-stimulated, especially aurally so, having earlier seen another performance:
What both performances had in common was the use of sound in fascinating ways to trigger the desired dramatic effect. Also, both pieces explored ideas around the notion that the past can haunt the present, be that through nostalgia, elements of our past that were hidden from us…or that we hide from ourselves…or ghosts.
A Ghost In Your Ear uses a technique called binaural sound, which is “beyond stereo”, requiring the wearing of headphones in order to get a more genuine three-dimensional effect from the sound. Ben and Max Ringham are, apparently, THE go to sound engineers for this sort of sound engineering – this production has gone to the go to people. Jamie Armitage explains it in a short vid:
Janie and I certainly both got the sensation that the sound was all around us, which added a fair bit to the horror experience. At one point during our preview, the binaural quality of the sound dropped away for two or three minutes. I don’t think deliberately. For sure the sensation was diminished and then reinstated, when the binaural sound was fully restored. Our contemporaries who are now a little hard of hearing might get less out of the binaural sound effects.
But the reasons for seeing this piece go way beyond the clever sound (and indeed some superb visual) effects. In particular, we were much taken with George Blagden’s acting. He was not only on stage but absolutely central to the action throughout. He must speak 95% of the lines, which he did quite brilliantly – a top notch performance, we both felt.
It is also a very thought-provoking piece, beyond what I had expected from a ghost story play. Without spoiling the effect by disclosing the twists, it dawned on me, as the play unfolded, that people are far more readily haunted by things that have happened to them and things that they have been told, than they are haunted by ghosts. This play, using the “story within a story” technique that has been used since the dawn of story-telling time, deliberately messes with the ghost story genre in that way. Are the characters haunted by a ghost, or are they haunted by a ghost story, or are they simply haunted by their own, natural fears?
Jamie Armitage not only writes but also directs his own pieces. I have oft said that I don’t really approve of playwrights directing their own pieces – it often leads to self-indulgence and missed opportunities. But in Jamie Armitage’s case, based now on two experiences, I am prepared to make an exception. His heavily genre-based pieces work because he is writing his plays while fully-imagining how that genre might work on the stage. Armitage therefore needs to be heavily involved in the production, not just the writing of the play.
A Ghost In Your Ear was really worth seeing. Don’t take our word for it – this link should find formal reviews for the production – once those reviews come out – I think weekend 12-14 December.
Well done Hampstead Theatre Downstairs – another top notch production. This one runs until 31 January 2026. Highly recommended by me and Janie if you get to book it in time.
