Review: SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE Spooks The Geffen Playhouse

Theater got even more creative than usual throughout the pandemic, turning to technology to produce staged readings, full-on musicals, and even interactive thrillers. And if the results are mixed, the intent is sincere and the talent and ingenuity are undeniable. The Geffen Playhouse cleverly redubbed itself the Geffen Stayhouse for the shows it produced and broadcast via Zoom and it is now hosting the world premiere of Jared Mezzocchi's SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE, a ghost story based on true events that befell his family in the home they lived in prior to his birth.

As the story goes, the Mezzocchis was the only brood to live in that house in Enfield, New Hampshire, outside of The Johnsons, the sprawling clan that built it. Mezzocchi had heard only his parents' take until recently, when his brother, who just turned 50, revealed his own terrifying recollections, which leads Mezzocchi to investigate himself.

Before the day of the show attendees receive a box in the mail with instructions to leave it unopened until instructed by Mezzocchi. This is standard for experiences like this, addiing some anticipation, and while it is fun, the box doesn't contain anything so thrilling that the show would suffer without the gimmick. The box itself and its contents are nice quality, though, so they make for fun souvenirs.

Not having been present for the haunting detaches Jared (and us) from the immediacy of the events but it also heightens the suspense, because we can't see around corners he can't either. It plays very much like a found-footage horror film, where you're looking beyond the foreground: Did that chair move? Was that door open the whole time? Did that curtain just flutter?

Much of the 70-minute intermission-free show is effective thanks to director Margot Bordelon, Obie Award-winning writer-performer Mezzocchi, who has a natural presence and is a gifted storyteller, and the effects by Virtual Design Collective. Those effects are oftentimes so subtle, they can leave audience members wondering, If this is happening in real time (and it is-Mezzocchi responds to the audience so it's clearly not just a replay of a taped show), how did they make that happen? There's nothing graphic or particularly shocking, just sometimes startling, but there is still no admission for those 12 and younger.

Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the technology, the use of Google maps and sites like FindaGrave.com and Ancestry.com to illustrate the story, sometimes it's not interactive so much as you're just watching someone online. And for as effective as it sometimes is, the ending is a bit unsatisfactory through its vagueness. It would benefit from a clearer denouement (even if left ambiguous), which would leave a longer-lasting impression. Still, cheers to the Geffen Stayhouse for taking chances and keeping theater lovers entertained even from home.

Photo Credit: Geffen Playhouse

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