Loud Ghosts, Little Chill

When people spoke of a British invasion in theater in recent decades, it was usually a reference to the deluge of London-based musicals that peaked in the 1980s with bloated blockbusters such as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” But a new occupation is under way, both on and off-Broadway, and it’s literally terrifying — or aspires to be, at least.“A Ghost in Your Ear,” now running downtown at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre, is the second in a string of horror-story plays arriving in New York this season. August saw the Broadway opening of “Paranormal Activity,” inspired by the film franchise, which had premiered in West Yorkshire before transferring to the West End and other cities. Previews will begin shortly for an off-Broadway production of “2:22—A Ghost Story,” another hit across the pond that has also been staged in other countries.One of the surprising elements of “Paranormal,” which I found genuinely spooky and delightful, is that its design, while sophisticated and intricate, relies heavily on tricks predating the digital era, such as shadows and haze, abrupt blackouts, and general sleight of hand. In contrast, “Ghost in Your Ear,” introduced in London in the past year, combines a minimal set, by Anisha Fields, with what’s trumpeted in a press release as “groundbreaking binaural sound activity.”Each audience member gets a pair of headphones to wear throughout the roughly 90-minute piece, written and helmed by Jamie Armitage — best known for co-directing another British import, “SIX: The Musical” — in a collaboration with Ben and Max Ringham, the show’s sound designers. Before the action begins onstage, a low voice intones, “If you choose to leave, you will not be allowed back in. You have been warned.”The voice, fussily ominous, like that of a pompous villain in an animated film, continues, “If at any moment, you are too scared, simply remove your headphones and the voices will disappear. Remember the ghost is not real, it is only in your ear.”What follows once the two cast members, Owen Campbell and Lucas Iverson, have entered is equally obvious — increasingly so, in fact. Mr. Iverson, whose screen credits include HBO’s “The Pitt” and “The Gilded Age,” plays a down-on-his-luck actor, whom Mr. Campbell’s character, a sound technician, has enlisted for a recording session.Before they get down to business, we learn that the technician is an expectant father, whereas the actor informs us straight away that he has no paternal instincts. “I don’t like, hate them,” he says of children. “They’re just not for me. Career comes first.”If you haven’t guessed already, this confession serves to connect the actor to the character he’ll play in the chilling tale he’s about to read, concerning a man abandoned by his own dad at a very young age, then compelled to visit the old man’s childhood home after he dies. “If I’d known what I know now,” the character tells us, early in the yarn, “I would have respected my father’s wishes and never gone anywhere near that house.”Unfortunately, as spun by Mr. Armitage and Messrs. Ringham, “Ghost in Your Ear” relies too heavily on simply shocking the titular organ, an approach that not only diminishes its fear factor but becomes irritating after a while. At a recent preview, I found myself sitting through the extended melodramatic passages assigned to Mr. Iverson, waiting for the next crash or blast that would periodically strike, as I might anticipate a dentist’s drill.Ben Jacobs’s lighting design adds some visual flash, and the performers manage to evince the simple emotions and qualms driving their characters, predictable as their course may be. But in the end, “A Ghost in Your Ear” isn’t an especially thrilling theatrical experience; it’s more evocative of a visit to a theme-park haunted house, and not one of the better ones available, at that.

Loud Ghosts, Little Chill

Loud Ghosts, Little Chill

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