Early on in Grey House, a couple find themselves in an isolated, run-down cabin in the woods after getting into a car accident that results in the man’s foot being badly injured. Looking around the cluttered environs, the man says forebodingly, “I’ve seen this movie before.”
“What happens?” the woman asks.
“We don’t make it,” he replies.
The line gets the expected laughs, but it’s definitely not accurate. I won’t reveal whether or not the couple actually manages to survive in this new thriller by Levi Holloway, but what transpires is definitely not like anything you’ve seen before. Whether or not that’s a good thing is a topic likely to be highly debated by theatergoers, many of whom can be seen emerging from the Lyceum Theatre with baffled looks on their faces. The new Broadway season has just begun, and it’s hard to imagine any future show proving more divisive.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
A first-rate cast and creative team have been assembled for the play which premiered at Chicago’s A Red Orchid Theatre in 2019. Director Joe Mantello’s production features contributions from scenic designer Scott Pask, costume designer Rudy Monce, lighting designer Natasha Katz and sound designer Tom Gibbons, all working at the top of their game. And the sterling ensemble includes Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany (who missed critics’ performances after being sidelined with Covid), Paul Sparks, and Sophia Anne Caruso. It’s hard to avoid the feeling, however, that the play, which depends highly on a tightly controlled, ominous atmosphere, might have been more impactful when presented in the Chicago theater’s much smaller space.
The story takes place in 1977 and begins with Henry (Sparks) and Max (understudy Claire Karpen, filling in for Maslany, out with Covid) arriving late on a wintry night at the cabin which at first seems abandoned. It turns out, however, that there are quite a few residents: the middle-aged matriarch, Raleigh (Metcalf), and a group of children of varying ages including the eldest Marlow (Caruso), the deaf Bernie (Millicent Simmonds), Squirrel (Colby Kipnes), A1656 (Alyssa Emily Marven), and a young unnamed boy (Eamon Patrick O’Connell). The no-nonsense Raleigh takes the couple’s arrival in stride, welcoming them as guests and tending to Henry’s broken ankle. A blizzard is raging outside, and calling for help isn’t an option since the only phone apparently had its cord chewed through by a squirrel.
Things, needless to say, get stranger from there with a series of increasingly bizarre events occurring over the play’s intermissionless 100 minutes that resists easy explanation, including a provocative truth or lies game played by Max and the children. To describe much of what goes on in detail would spoil the surprises, but let’s just say that plenty of different interpretations as to what’s actually going on will be bandied about. By the end, not long after the appearance of a character identified in the program only as “The Ancient” (Cyndi Coyne), some answers are provided. But even then, there’s plenty of ambiguity to the proceedings.
That, in and of itself, wouldn’t be a bad thing. People are still debating the meanings of Waiting for Godot, and it doesn’t seem to have hurt that work’s reputation any. The bigger problem is that the purposeful vagueness on display here proves more frustrating than intriguing for much of the play’s running time, with too many scenes petering out and lacking the follow-through necessary to sustain the narrative momentum. As if to compensate, the production throws in a few genuine jump scares and graphically gory moments, but Grey House is more unsettling than scary, not so much a thriller as surreal horror. The playwright seems intent on crafting a mythology but hasn’t provided the sufficient thematic texture to make it fully resonate.
That said, the play is definitely something original, no small selling point when it comes to Broadway. And it provides the welcome opportunity for Laurie Metcalf to return to the stage, even if she’s playing a supporting character not all that far removed from her Aunt Jackie in The Connors. While it’s disappointing that she’s appearing in this and not the tragically short-lived revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she nonetheless does a lot with a relatively one-note part, garnering uneasy laughs with her brusque manner and acerbic line readings. Sparks and Karpen, the latter ably filling in for Maslany and displaying no signs of tentativeness, handle their roles well, and the younger performers are expertly unnerving as the children who are not quite what they seem. Although after Beetlejuice and this, the talented Caruso might want to find a nice ingenue role for her next Broadway assignment.
The creepiness factor is definitely ramped up to 11 thanks to Mantello’s expertly calibrated staging and the terrific production designs, with Gibbons’ frequently shocking sound effects keeping us constantly on edge. Best to see Grey House with a group of friends, not only to have someone to clutch during the scary parts but also with whom to have a spirited conversation afterwards.
Grey House opened June 1, 2023, at the Lyceum Theatre. Tickets and information: greyhousebroadway.com
