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Headphone Horror ‘A Ghost in Your Ear’ Wins Praise at Hampstead Downstairs

Reviews highlight Jamie Armitage’s immersive sound design for jolt-filled scares.

Overview

  • The 90-minute production is running in the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs studio through January 31.
  • George Blagden plays an actor recording a ghost story as Jonathan Livingstone’s engineer oversees the session, with both performances singled out for strength.
  • The show uses binaural audio via audience headphones and a dummy head to place whispers and effects in precise space, with an uncredited Mark Gatiss voice noted by critics.
  • Conceived by Armitage with sound designers Ben and Max Ringham, the piece adapts techniques seen in Complicite’s The Encounter and the Donmar’s 2023 Macbeth.
  • Reviewers report potent scares and an engrossing concept, though some cite stilted dialogue, pacing issues, and concerns that headphones reduce the shared experience.