REVIEW: ‘Grey House’ is creepy theater that Broadway needs more of
Photo: Grey House stars, from left, Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany, Alyssa Emily Marvin and Millicent Simmonds. Photo courtesy of MurphyMade, 2023 / Provided by Polk & Co. with permission.
NEW YORK — It’s exceedingly rare to find the horror genre represented on Broadway. Theatrical scarefests do exist, but they are often relegated to the margins of the performative landscape, in some ways discounted by serious theatergoers as fleeting entertainment that doesn’t deserve much introspection. This is wrong. Horror has entranced the literary world for generations, ditto for films and TV. Theater, with only a few exceptions, is playing catch up to the wonders and possibilities of things that go bump in the night.
Sure, there’s Sweeney Todd, but can’t there be more?
Grey House, a new play by Levi Holloway and directed by Joe Mantello, offers a resounding yes to that question. This creepy, crawly drama, which sadly closes Sunday, July 30, follows the misguided adventures of a young couple whose car has been stranded on a snowy mountain pass. Their only hope of refuge and survival in these blizzard conditions is to break into a secluded wooden house and seek warmth. What they find inside this “grey house” is mysterious and off-putting. Inside there’s a mother named Raleigh, played by Laurie Metcalf, and her daughters (Sophia Anne Caruso as Marlow, Millicent Simmonds as Bernie, Colby Kipnes as Squirrel and Alyssa Emily Marvin as A1656), or at least that’s how the audience starts filling in the blanks. They look like they haven’t seen sunlight in some time, and certainly the outside world hasn’t encroached upon these spartan environs.
What transpires for this couple — named Henry (Paul Sparks) and Max (Tatiana Maslany) — is frightening and unsettling. They need real help because Henry has a broken bone from the accident, but in order to wait out the storm and seek medical help, they need to make nice with this strange family who never seem to answer questions directly. Every little detail turns into a Pandora’s box of confusion and further mystery.
Piecing together what exactly is happening and who Raleigh and the house’s inhabitants truly are becomes one of the sinister joys of experiencing Grey House, which runs 105 minutes without an intermission. There are no easy answers, but some theories begin to materialize as the strange goings-on become curiouser and curiouser.
Of the cast, there’s no beating Metcalf. She’s a theatrical legend at this point, and she fully embodies the Raleigh character with skillful uneasiness. The audience first sees her sleeping in an awkward position on an old, ratty couch. After she is awakened, Raleigh seems to be the one calling the shots in this household, taking a parental role with the others, but there’s also something left unsaid about her motivations and ultimate goal. Is she truly altruistic with Henry and Max, or does she wish them harm? The fact that one can’t tell is a credit to Metcalf’s layered performance.
Caruso, who appeared on Broadway in Beetlejuice, is another standout amongst the house’s inhabitants. There’s something about her Marlow character that is frightening and wondrously strange. Audiences would do well if they hung on her every word because she seems to be in the know on what’s transpiring before our very eyes.
Sparks and Maslany, playing the unsuspecting couple, are essentially playing characters not too unlike the audience members themselves. They, like us, are outsiders to this grey house. They need shelter because of the swirling storm outside the windows, but that requires them to enter this apparent world of horror. They seem to be symbolic Odysseus-like characters, pulled to the rocky shores because of the call of the Sirens. Or maybe they died in that car accident, and this is some type of quasi-purgatory or hellish reality? Or maybe they are returning to a place of their past? Or maybe they have entered a supernatural realm that defies scientific explanation? Or maybe they have stumbled upon a murderous family of cannibals, a la The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? After all, there is a strange light emanating from the basement, and Raleigh every so often heads down the stairs.
The answers to these questions are never fully said aloud on the stage of the Lyceum Theatre because there are multiple interpretations to this narrative. Holloway and Mantello keep things moving along and mysterious, never showing their hand to the audience and thus letting the theatergoers fill in the blanks. That said, if one listens to what these characters say (or don’t say), some obvious clues are mentioned about what’s going on in this house of horrors.
Grey House is startling, scary entertainment that engages the senses and bristles the hair on the back of the neck. It’s original and uncompromising, and Broadway needs more shows just like this.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Grey House, by Levi Holloway and directed by Joe Mantello, stars Laurie Metcalf, Paul Sparks, Tatiana Maslany, Sophia Anne Caruso, Millcent Simmonds, Colby Kipnes, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Cyndi Coyne and Eamon Patrick O’Connell. Running time: 105 minutes with no intermission. Playing through Sunday, July 30 at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
