When deciding on a show to be my first Broadway play, I could have chosen from any number of famous productions that are currently out there. The Lion King, Hamilton, and Sweeny Todd were all obvious choices. But I’m not a big fan of most musicals, aside from Disney, and the Disney shows that play on Broadway seem to run a lot longer than their 80-minute source material and come with a hefty price tag, even for the cheap seats.
Ultimately, the horror fan in me won out as I selected a new play called Grey House which was still in previews during the week that I had planned my trip to New York City. And it turned out to be the perfect choice for a non-musical horror fan who was looking to cross Broadway show off of their bucket list. Below is my review of Levi Holloway’s Grey House.
Grey House plot summary
The plot of Grey House is hard to give away because it’s a story that starts the audience questioning the situation from the beginning and unfolds slowly throughout the play. It’s not so much that the ending is a shocking twist as it’s the entire point of the story and to give it away would take away from the experience of watching it unravel before you.
What I will say is that the scene opens with a mother, Raleigh, played by the legendary Laurie Metcalf, and her five children dozing off in front of the TV. They live in a dilapidated but clean cabin in the middle of the woods. As Raleigh sleeps, the children exhibit some strange behavior, particularly one little girl who continually runs up and down the stairs of the basement which emits an eerie glow from the open door.
During the night, a couple, Max (Tatiana Maslany) and Henry (Paul Sparks), barge into the home calling for help, having struck a deer on the snowy road. Henry is injured, and while Max applies first aid, they’re met by the children: Marlow, Bernie, Squirrel, A1656, and The Boy. (The explanations of some of these names are revealed later on).The children eventually awaken Raleigh who greets the strangers.
The couple stays at the cabin for the next few days while Henry heals. While there, they are confronted with this mysterious family’s past as well as their own. And as they do, it changes the trajectory of their relationship, their realities, and their lives.
The story
The compelling thing about Grey House is how masterfully it shows versus tells. The audience goes into the play with very little information, particularly in its era of previews. Before purchasing tickets, I scoured the internet looking for information about the story and could find very little. However, I still felt intrigued enough to buy a ticket to a performance.
As I carefully avoid spoilers or even any major plot elements, the horror elements of this story come more from not knowing. From the beginning, the audience was very jumpy because we didn’t know what kind of story we were watching. Was it supernatural, psychological, or a grounded work of horror? It turns out, it was all three.
There are some jump scares, but they come from pure confusion rather than an attempt to get a shocking jolt from the audience. We are shown things that Max and Henry don’t see, and while we don’t know exactly what that is, we know it doesn’t look good.
We’re always a step ahead of Max and Henry but a step behind Raleigh and her children. And we’re continually struggling to catch up to the members of Grey House while simultaneously pulling along its visitors.
What’s nice is that the full story is never laid out. We never get the full picture, but we get enough that we can fill in the blanks and with this information, our own ideas about the themes and messages that the story has conveyed. It doesn’t try to glorify any of the darker elements, and it also doesn’t paint a bleak resolution.
Sometimes, people make the best of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that’s exactly what these characters do.
The performances
Though I’ve never been to a Broadway show, I have seen a handful of stage plays in my life. So, I know how different it is from watching a performance on screen and how impressive it is to watch these actors memorize all of these lines and do it seemingly perfect in one take.
The cast is dominated by young characters portrayed by both young adults and actual children. And they all hold their own against the seasoned adult characters. While I’m no expert in the field of acting, particularly stage acting, or in the details of this particular play, not once did I notice an error in any performance.
Also, while not a musical, there is a fair amount of singing throughout, mostly acapella style complete with choreography. This really showcases what a triple threat the younger performers really are.
Not to be outdone, Metcalf shows up to do what she does best: chew the scenery and mold a seemingly stock character into a three dimensional being with complexity and charm despite her gruff exterior. Maslany and Sparks too convey such raw and real fear while also working in the right doses of humor, anger, and sadness.
I’d be so curious to see this play in the future and compare the preview performance with a seasoned one. What will be added or removed? What other ways are there to play these scenes? How will I interpret this information?
My recommendation
I recommend Grey House to anyone who is looking for something other than the traditional Broadway show. There’s enough horror to satisfy a fan of the genre but not enough to scare away the casual scary story audience member. It’s not the horror that will keep you awake after seeing it. It’s connecting all of the disconnected pieces that it throws at you from one act to the next and the bigger messages that it’s trying relay as it goes.
I could see this story being made into a great independent movie one day. And to be one of the first to see it in its original form was a privilege.
Grey House is currently running at the Lyceum Theatre located at 145 West 45th Street in New York City. It runs 1 hour, 40 minutes. You can buy tickets to see Grey House here!
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